Will & Harper: parents' guide
Best for ages 15 and up. Rated R for language.
A warm, funny and sometimes raw road-trip documentary that suits older teens watching with a parent. Will Ferrell drives across the country with his old friend and fellow comedy writer Harper Steele after she comes out as a trans woman. The R is for language: f-words and other swearing come up often in casual talk, and a homophobic slur is quoted. There is beer, bar-hopping and smoking, and Harper speaks openly about past suicidal thoughts and breaks down more than once. Transphobic comments online and tense moments in public are shown. Nothing graphic otherwise, which is why we suggest 15.
What's in it
Violence
NoneNo physical violence. The hostility is verbal: hateful comments about Harper on social media and some uneasy encounters in public. A house she once owned is shown vandalized, and someone holds a lit firework.
Language
StrongPlenty of strong language in casual conversation, including f-words, s-words, bitch, asshole, damn and crap, plus a middle-finger gesture. A slur aimed at gay people is quoted from Harper's childhood, and a bar displays a profane political flag.
Sex and nudity
MildNo sex or nudity. Frank talk about gender identity, dating and transition surgery, a comic reference to oral sex in a TV clip, and a joke about breast augmentation.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
ModerateWill and Harper drink a lot of beer on the trip and visit several bars; others drink champagne and cocktails, and people smoke cigarettes. No drug use.
Scary or intense scenes
ModerateEmotionally heavy in places. Harper describes years of shame and suicidal thoughts, cries over her past, and reads cruel online comments about herself. Some stops carry a sense of risk about how strangers will react.
Sensitive topics
- Suicide
Worth talking about
Will makes mistakes while trying to support his friend and owns up to them. What does it look like to stand by someone through a big change, and how should we respond when we get it wrong?
On our lists
Similar picks around 15+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, bbfc.co.uk, Wikipedia, the-numbers.com, Rotten Tomatoes. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.