Early Man Christian Movie Review (2018)

Guidance: Talk Together

This stop-motion family comedy is generally light and playful, with slapstick action, underdog sports themes, and a strong emphasis on teamwork. The main cautions are mild peril, a few coarse or insulting phrases, bathroom humor, and a worldview thread that treats football as a kind of “sacred” cultural devotion worth discussing with children.

Why This Guidance Level

Early Man stays within the normal range for a PG family adventure, but it does include repeated chase-and-threat moments, mild coarse language and bathroom humor, and a recurring idea that football is the “Sacred Game.” For many Christian families, the bigger issue is not surface content so much as using the film to talk about what deserves our deepest loyalty and worship, which belong to God alone through Jesus Christ.

Faith & Worldview Perspective

The film warmly celebrates courage, perseverance, teamwork, and defending home against greed and oppression. Those are meaningful strengths. At the same time, it wraps much of its story around football as a “sacred” game and treats sport as a near-religious center of identity and hope. That is more playful than dark, but it still gives parents a natural opening to talk about how good gifts can become idols when they take the place of God. Parents may want to discuss the difference between loving a game and giving ultimate devotion to something other than Christ.

Truths Reflected

• The story honors loyalty, community, and sacrificial teamwork over selfish pride.
• It shows that the powerful can misuse authority, while humble people can act with courage and perseverance.

Tensions to Discuss

• The film speaks of football as the “Sacred Game,” which can blur the line between enjoying a gift and treating it with the reverence that belongs to God alone.
• Hope is centered mainly in winning, belonging, and communal effort rather than in deeper truth or hope in Jesus Christ.

Content & Discernment Markers

Occult & Spiritual Content

• Occult material does not stand out here, but the story repeatedly treats football as the “Sacred Game” and speaks of the playing field as “sacred ground.” That language is mostly comic worldbuilding, yet Christian families may still want to discuss why worship and sacred devotion belong to God, not to sport or culture.

Sexuality & Relationships

• Sexual content is light. Stone Age characters wear minimal clothing in a non-sexual comic style, and there is a brief underwear joke: “Did you change your underwear today?” A few moments reportedly include near-naked bath humor and a mistaken kiss played for laughs rather than romance.

Identity Themes

• The film includes a positive thread about a girl wanting to play football in a male-centered sports culture. This is presented as fairness and inclusion rather than a deeper identity message. Parents may want to discuss dignity, gifts, and how Scripture calls us to honor both men and women as image-bearers of God.

Violence & Intensity

• Threats and displacement drive the plot when the Bronze Age invaders overrun the Stone Age valley, force the tribe out, and pursue them into danger. The tone remains stylized and comic, but the loss of home and repeated chase scenes may feel tense for younger viewers.
• There is also frequent slapstick peril: characters are chased, trampled, hit by objects, fall down, and get mildly hurt in sports and action scenes. The violence is more cartoonish than graphic.

Language & Humour

• Language appears mild for a PG family film, with insults and coarse phrases such as “stupid” and “totally crap,” along with teasing banter. Humor also includes farts and a gross-out moment involving bird droppings. Parents may want to discuss how joking speech can still shape the way we treat others.

Other Content Notes

• A major story thread involves the tribe risking everything on a football match to win back their home. That underdog setup is fun and engaging, but it can also encourage children to see victory in sport as the ultimate answer. Parents may want to talk about where true security and identity are found.

Notable Moments

• Valley overrun: The Stone Age tribe loses its home when the Bronze Age forces take over the valley and drive them toward the Badlands.

  “We thank you for our Valley. Our home.”

• Sacred Game language: Football is introduced with ceremonial language that frames the sport as culturally sacred.

  “What the Sacred Game begin!”

• Challenge for freedom: Dug challenges the champions to a football match in hopes of winning back the tribe’s valley.

  “If we win, we stayed with our Valley.”

Discussion Prompts

• What deserves our worship?: The movie treats football like something sacred. What is the difference between enjoying a game and giving your heart to something the way only God deserves?
  • Biblical guidance: Good gifts can become idols when they take first place in our hearts. Worship belongs to the Lord alone, and our deepest hope is in Jesus Christ, not in winning.
  • Scripture: Exodus 20:3, Matthew 22:37, 1 John 5:21
• Teamwork and humility: Why did the team do better when they worked together instead of showing off?
  • Biblical guidance: Scripture calls us to humility, service, and looking to the interests of others rather than chasing personal glory.
  • Scripture: Philippians 2:3-4, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
• Responding to power and injustice: How should people respond when someone stronger uses power selfishly or unfairly?
  • Biblical guidance: God cares about justice and calls His people to courage, truthfulness, and steadfastness without becoming cruel themselves.
  • Scripture: Micah 6:8, Proverbs 31:8-9, Romans 12:21
• Where is real security found?: The tribe believes getting the valley back will solve everything. What things do people trust in besides God, and why do those things never fully save us?
  • Biblical guidance: Home, success, and community are gifts, but lasting security is found in the Lord and the hope we have in Christ.
  • Scripture: Psalm 20:7, Matthew 6:19-21, John 14:27