Is Little Wing movie 2024 OK for kids? Is Little Wing 2024 safe for kids? Read the Little Wing 2024 Movie Review | Safe for Kids?, an honest parents guide and mom review of the all-new Paramount Plus and Awesomeness TV original film Little Wing 2024 streaming on Paramount+, starring Brian Cox as Jaan, Kelly Reilley as Maddie, and Brooklynn Prince as Kaitlyn. No spoilers! #LittleWing May contain commissioned links.
Little Wing 2024 Movie Review | Safe for Kids? Parents Guide
What do life, loss, and pigeon racing have in common?
Apparently an original teen movie.
In an unexpected move to boost the streaming service viewership in 2024, Paramount+ is releasing an all-new, all-original, coming-of-age teenage film…about you guessed it. Pigeon racing. But before you think Paramount Plus has gone One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest on us, give pigeons a chance.
In this Little Wing 2024 Movie Review | Safe for Kids?, I’m breaking down the visuals, the story, a full PG-13 age rating explanation for violence, adult themes and language, and what kids’ age recommendation is suggested to watch in this new 2024 Little Wing parents guide to the new Paramount+ and Awesomeness TV original coming-of-age film. A no-spoiler parent review of Little Wing movie 2024, does this pigeon racing teen film take flight? Or is this all-new Paramount Plus film for the birds?
The Visuals
Visually, Little Wing is a straight to streaming Paramount+ original film. What were you expecting? No crazy CGI animation of Hitchcock-like birds scenes in this Little Wing 2024 movie. Keeping camera visuals simple (and low budget), the cinematography is pretty straight forward here.
Photosensitivity Warning. For viewers prone to epilepsy and photosensitivity, there are no scenes of bright flashing or strobing lights of note. No scenes with dizzying and fast spinning camera movements that could be nausea inducing either.
The Story
Inspired by The New Yorker article by Susan Orlean about pigeon racing, Little Wing is the 2024 Paramount+ original coming-of-age teen movie written by John Gatins (“Flight“) and directed by Dean Israelite (“Saban’s Power Rangers” 2017). The cast stars Brian Cox (“The Bourne Identity” franchise) as pigeon racer Jaan Vari, Brooklynn Prince (“Cocaine Bear“) as teen Kaitlyn, Kelly Reilley (“Yellowstone“) as mom Maddie, and Che Tefari (“Daredevil“) as best friend Adam.
Little Wing follows the coming-of-age story of Kaitlyn, a 13-year old 8th grade girl who is dragged into the world of pigeon racing as she tries to deal with her parents’ recent divorce and the pending loss of her home. Kaitlyn and her best friend hope to solve her mother’s financial woes by stealing a valuable bird. But things take a strange turn as two completely different worlds collide into one unexpected flight.
Focusing on a darker and more realistic coming-of-age teen movie about life, loss, and pigeon racing – this anti-Disney Channel depiction of modern day teenage life is actually kind of refreshing. Strange but refreshing. Accenting broken relationships, honest conversations, and relatable characters with the world of pigeon racing as the foundation of it all, Little Wing is an unexpected original story that captures the dark teenage soul within – but also the hope of learning to fly with delicate wings.
But is there a line a too dark, too realistic for kids to watch Little Wing movie? Let’s breakdown that PG-13 rating.
Little Wing PG-13 Rating Explained
Is Little Wing safe for kids? A DreamWorks animated film rated PG-13? Should parents be concerned? It’s no secret that I am highly skeptical of all MPAA ratings (um hello, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker not disclosing any language??). And as we know, not all movie and TV age ratings are the same. As a parent, it’s been rather heartbreaking to witness how ratings have shifted over the years with a G-rating no longer an option to help guide parents.
PG ratings now oscillating between Turning Red intense to Christopher Robin calm, and even PG-13/TV-14 age ratings teetering on the edge of R or MA ratings (Moon Knight and Werewolf by Night, I see you!), there’s a wide range between the age of 0-14 years old for parents to consider. Having fully disclosed parent guidelines can help determine if a movie or show is kid friendly – and safe for the whole family to watch together.
Why is Little Wing rated PG-13? In this Little Wing Movie Review | Safe for Kids?, this all-new 2024 original coming-of-age film from Paramount+ and Awesomeness TV is rated PG-13 for “thematic elements including suicide, brief strong language and suggestive material.” With film and TV ratings also unpredictable these days, having fully disclosed parent guidelines can help determine if a movie or television show like Little Wing is kid friendly. Is Little Wing too dark for kids? Is Little Wing for kids? Let’s breakdown that PG-13 age rating in this Little Wing 2024 parents guide.
Violence/Suspense. Little Wing overall has very little violence and suspense. No violence per se, however there are a few scenes of intense dodgeball resulting in a few minor head injuries – meant for humor and laughs. No animal violence, but there are scenes of animal kidnapping. There is one scene with mild to moderate peril – with a stunt not advised for kids to perform.
Verbal references to “puking” and “throw up” but nothing shown. One mild bloody finger scene and one kid in a cast. No other blood or gore seen.
There are multiple discussions about war and being a veteran of war – including discussions about shooting, death, and dying. Death threats loosely mentioned – but mostly for humor effect. One mention of “Hitler” that could be triggering. Verbal references to cancer, chemo, and hospitalization that could also be triggering.
Adult Themes. There is no alcohol consumption or smoking in Little Wing. There is one verbal reference to “taking drugs” but meant for laughs. Animal kidnapping, stealing, trespassing, breaking and entering, destruction of property, and sneaking out of the house at night are common teen film trope themes in Little Wing. Dealing with parental divorce and broken family home is also a common theme throughout.
Mental health is a HUGE theme throughout the Little Wing movie including multiple verbal references to suicide, suicidal ideation, and suicidal acts including phrases like “I want to kill myself,” “you want to kill yourself?,” “wanting to die,” “permanent solution,” “drowning,” and “choking to death.” This may be triggering – especially for those struggling with depression, grief, and loss. There is an overall theme of trying to dissuade and discuss suicide with teens instead of acting upon them – but the discussions get intense and dark at times.
Sexual content includes one kiss between characters and one scene of hand holding. There are a couple of sensual innuendo references “grow a pair,” the word “thrust” with full body motion to enhance the word, verbal references to “making out” and “French kissing with tongue.” Other verbal references include “stick it in your butts”, “pooping” and “kick butt.” One scene of a mom holding up a bra (she is fully clothed). No nudity or sex scenes. Overall the suggestive material is light in Little Wing.
Language. Little Wing has brief strong language? What kind of foul language are we talking about? Foul language phrases and swear words include: 1 “f*cking” (sung in the background soundtrack), 1 “@ss,” 1 “bullsh!t,” 2 “sh!t,” 1 “d@mn,” 1 “H-E-double-hockey-sticks,” 1 “bull crap,” and 4 “crap,” and 3 “sucks.”
Milder bad language phrases and insults in Little Wing include: “dang,” “pissed,” “freaking,” “die,” “dead,” “kill,” “pooping,” “butt,” “stupid,” “geek,” “jerk,” “idiot,” “cretin,” “weirdo,” “dumb,” “nuts,” “creep,” “punk,” shut up,” “oh g-d,” “oh my gosh,” “oh my Lord,” and “for the love of g-d.”
Little Wing 2024 Age Rating for Kids
With a runtime of 1 hour 40 minutes, this Little Wing 2024 movie feels long with heavy dialogue and a lack of action/adventure pacing to keep the story flowing. But the intrigue of pigeons and pigeon racing may entice little kids to keep watching However add in a complex and dark teenage themes, and multiple suicidal verbal references, there may be parts of the film that may be confusing and/or scary topics for little kids to understand.
With strong language and multiple scenes depicting discussions of suicide, Little Wing is a coming-age drama film aimed towards older teens Little Wing 2024 is the next level above more kid friendly teen films like Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret or Chang Can Dunk but not quite as dark and bloody like Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why.
Little Wing is most like dark coming-of-age drama films including Dead Poet’s Society (1989) and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012).
This 2024 original coming-of-age film from Paramount+ and Awesomeness TV is rated PG-13 for “thematic elements including suicide, brief strong language and suggestive material” by the MPAA.
No, there are no end credit scenes in this 2024 Paramount+ original film. Feel free to skip the credits and stream something else.
Based on my Little Wing parents guide and mom movie review above, I would not recommend Little Wing 2024 film to kids younger than the age of 12-13 years old.
With strong language, dark themes, and multiple scenes depicting suicide discussions, Little Wing is a darker teen drama movie that is the next level above more kid friendly coming-of-age films like Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret or Chang Can Dunk but definitely a lesser degree than Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why. I advise parents to prescreen the Paramount+ original film for language and verbal suicide references.
Considering the full PG-13 age rating breakdown above, this parent movie reviewer would not recommend Little Wing 2024 film to kids younger than the age of 12-13 years old. This Little Wing PG-13 rating is pretty spot on and easily comparable to Dead Poet’s Society and The Perks of Being a Wallflower movie ratings for older teens with complex themes.
The Overall
I’ll admit – it’s the unusual premise of pigeon racing that had me intrigued. Pigeons and teens? How can that even be remotely relatable?
Little Wing allows the unexpected sport of pigeon racing to form an unlikely bond between people of different worlds. While not as dark as say a 13 Reasons Why, Little Wing more accurately shows the darker side of being a modern day teen – with broken relationships and sharp honest dialogue that is ultimately relatable – to a fault.
Is there a line of being too relatable, too dark, too real? Maybe. With enough suicide topics to make anyone squirm in their seats – I can’t say that Little Wing is OK for kids. But every now and then the whole family needs a little dose of reality.
I honestly had no idea where this dark teen drama was trying to fly off to. Little Wing takes an unexpected fascinating flight into a world of redemption, family, and hope.
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Little Wing, the all-new coming-of-age teen film from Paramount Plus and Awesomeness TV is streaming exclusively on Paramount+ starting Wednesday March 13, 2024. Will your family be watching?
I was invited to screen the Paramount Plus and Awesomeness TV new coming-of-age teen film Little Wing movie 2024 in exchange for this Little Wing 2024 Movie Review | Safe for Kids? Parents Guide. All photos courtesy of Paramount+. Be sure to follow Raising Whasians for more movie reviews, television updates, celebrity interviews, entertainment, and behind-the-scenes info!
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