Finding 'Ohana

image for Finding 'Ohana

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Not suitable under 10; parental guidance to 12 (themes, violence, scary scenes, mild coarse language)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Finding 'Ohana
  • a review of Finding 'Ohana completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 3 June 2025.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 10 Not suitable due to themes, violence, scary scenes, mild coarse language.
Children aged 10–12 Parental guidance recommended due to themes, violence, scary scenes, mild coarse language.
Children aged 13 and over Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Finding 'Ohana
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes
Length: 121 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Pili (Kea Peahu) and Ioane “E” (Alex Aiono) live in New York with their mother, Leilani (Kelly Hu). When Leilani’s father, Kimo (Branscombe Richmond), has a heart attack, the family flies to their native home of O'ahu, Hawaii to support with his health and financial problems. Soon after their arrival, Pili sneaks into Kimo’s art studio, where she finds the diary of Monks (Ricky Garcia), a sailor who documented his crew’s journey to O'ahu, and the treasure they hid away. Pili is almost caught but is saved by a local boy named Casper (Owen Vaccaro). Meanwhile, E meets a local girl named Hana (Lindsay Watson) and is immediately infatuated with her.

Kimo discovers Pili with the diary. Though initially upset, he takes Pili to explore the island. However, Kimo ends up falling and breaks a rib. Pili feels responsible for Kimo’s injury and decides to seek out the lost treasure to make up for it. Pili and Casper sneak off, with E and Hana chasing them down.

Following the directions of the diary, the gang of four navigates through the challenges of the treasure cave, including the ‘Jaws of Death’, venomous spiders, and underwater tunnels. They make it through the trials and find the treasure. However, the treasure is stored in a sacred tomb. By taking the treasure, they summon the ‘Nightmarchers’, the deadly ghosts of ancient tribal Hawaiian warriors. Subsequently, they offer the treasure back to the Nightmarchers and are spared their lives. In the end, the family chooses to stay in Hawaii and reconnect with their cultural roots.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Family death; Family arguments and fighting; Injury; Illness; Crime.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • E shoves Pili into a chair, sits on her and then punches her. She retaliates by pinching his nipples.
  • After being startled by Casper, Pili drops him onto the floor and threatens to punch him.
  • A sailor says, “Our captain is gonna kill us”.
  • A sailor says, “You wanna mutinise?”, while holding pistols and knives.
  • A sailor stabs someone with a piece of bread, with the dialogue stating “Brown was so deadly he could kill with a piece of bread”.
  • The sailors get in a sword fight with each other. No blood or injury is shown during the fight, however, skeletons scattered around the cave with bullet holes and daggers impaled into them show evidence of death from the battle.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children under the age of five, including the following:

  • A bike rider crashes into cardboard boxes while racing down the street.
  • A bike rider cuts through a laundromat, forcing customers to dive out of their way.
  • The sailor’s ship burns down.
  • Pili wipes her nose, and the snot covers her forearm.
  • A swarm of bats flies past as E and Hana cross the ravine.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes and scary visual images, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged five to eight, including the following:

  • We are told that Kimo had a heart attack, which could upset children who have dealt with family health complications or death.
  • A sailor slashes through grass with a machete.
  • While climbing up rocks after Pili, Kimo slips and falls to the ground. He breaks his rib and has to go to hospital.
  • Pili, aged 12, illegally drives a truck to seek out the hidden treasure. She drives very dangerously, swerving across lanes. Casper throws up due to Pili’s poor driving.
  • Casper and E jump onto a rope to work a pulley system and are suspended in the air.
  • Pili climbs a wooden ladder and her feet slip as she climbs, almost making her fall.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

In addition to the above-mentioned violent scenes, there are some scenes in this movie that could scare or disturb children aged eight to thirteen, including the following:

  • E tells Pili about what happens if you see a Nightmarcher, saying, “Remember that scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark, where the Nazi’s faces melt off?”
  • E and Leilani get into an argument in the car after Leilani says she is considering selling their New York apartment to settle Kimo’s debt.
  • Pili and Casper fall in a cave and land next to a skeleton.
  • The gang climbs through the ‘Jaws of Death’, a part of a cave made up of jagged stalactites and stalagmites that resemble sharp teeth.
  • A big venomous spider, with baby spiders on its back, crawls onto E’s hand. E is bitten and we are shown the pus-filled bite mark. E begins feeling the effects of the spider bite, including blurred vision and muscle weakness.
  • The gang cross a ravine filled with lava and stalagmites, which may scare children who are scared of heights.
  • The gang swim through an underwater tunnel and must hold their breath for an extended period. This may scare children with a fear of drowning.
  • The gang jump down a waterfall, which may scare children who fear heights. E drowns but is resuscitated by Casper.
  • The Nightmarchers, who are said to kill you if you look at them, chase after the gang for the treasure E took from a burial cave.

Thirteen and overinfo

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

  • Nothing further noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Spam meat.
  • iPhone.
  • Jurassic Park and Lost are referenced because Pili and Casper walk through the location where they were filmed.
  • Google.
  • Meghan Trainer’s All The Ways is sung by the gang in a car and in the cave.
  • The Black Eyed Peas’ Pump It plays as the gang prepares to cross the ‘Jaws of Death’.
  • Instagram.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • E calls out, “You just nearly tore off my nip”, when fighting with Pili.
  • Casper shouts, “Ah my bits”, while entering through the underwater cave.
  • Casper exclaims, “Balls”, while seeing the height from the top of the waterfall.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • The camera zooms in on E’s bottom as Pili tries to take his phone.
  • Casper takes his shirt off so that Pili can wipe her nose.
  • Hana gets asked on a date.
  • E and Hana flirt.
  • Hana sits on E’s legs/bottom while he is trying to lift Casper out of the cave. E comments approvingly on how she is sitting.
  • E and Hana embrace after crossing the ravine.
  • E and Hana hold hands.
  • E and Hana kiss.

Use of substances

  • None noted.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • Loser.
  • Back off butt-faces.
  • Stupid.
  • The butthole to hell.
  • Oh sh-.
  • I’m gonna kill you.

In a nutshell

Finding 'Ohana is an adventurous film that gives the audience insight about Hawaiian language and culture. Though the cultural appreciation and key messages of the film are positive, the themes, scary scenes, violence and language make the film best suited to teens and up, with parental guidance recommended for children aged 10 to 12.

The main messages from this movie are the importance of family and embracing one’s cultural heritage. Additionally, the movie emphasises the need for resilience and perseverance to overcome challenges and achieve goals.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Family
  • Cultural connection
  • Love
  • Friendship
  • Courage
  • Honesty
  • Dedication
  • Perseverance.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • Kimo tells E and Pili that they “looked taller in the pictures, skinnier too”. These comments are damaging and could affect the body image of children watching, who may compare themselves to E and Pili.