The Secret World of Arrietty Christian Movie Review (2010)

Guidance: Low Concern

This is a gentle, reflective family fantasy with mild peril and a strong emphasis on friendship, courage, and care. Christian families may want to talk through the film’s view of human worth, fear, and trust, but the surface content stays fairly light.

Why This Guidance Level

This film is mild on the surface, but it still gives families a few things worth talking through. The danger is real for the Borrowers, and the story’s emotional center is a tender friendship shaped by secrecy, fear, and the desire to protect one another. The worldview concerns are not heavy, but the film does present human life, family, and courage in a way that can prompt helpful Christian conversation.

Faith & Worldview Perspective

The movie celebrates compassion, restraint, and friendship across difference. It also presents a fragile, hidden way of life where survival depends on secrecy and caution, so parents may want to connect the story’s themes of worth and courage to God’s care and the hope found in Christ.

Truths Reflected

• Kindness across differences matters.
• Family responsibility and self-control are valuable.

Tensions to Discuss

• The film treats human worth and belonging in a quiet nature-centered way rather than pointing to God as Creator and giver of life.
• Its view of courage is tied to secrecy and survival, so parents may want to discuss a stronger Christian hope in Christ instead of fear-driven self-protection.

Content & Discernment Markers

Occult & Spiritual Content

• Occult material does not stand out here. The film’s spiritual atmosphere is more nature-tinged and reflective than supernatural, so parents are mainly dealing with worldview tone rather than overt occult practice.

Sexuality & Relationships

• There is no sexual content. The closest relationship thread is a gentle friendship between Shawn and Arrietty, including Shawn asking, “Maybe we could be friends?” and Arrietty responding with curiosity about his family.

Identity Themes

• The story centers on identity as a Borrower, a hidden people group that survives by staying unseen. Arrietty’s family keeps repeating that “the world is a dangerous place for a Borrower,” which gives the film a strong sense of fragile identity and belonging. Parents may want to discuss where true identity comes from and how Christians belong to Christ.

Violence & Intensity

• The Borrowers face repeated danger from cats, rats, traps, and human discovery. One tense scene involves a terrified Borrower being trapped in a glass jar with plastic wrap, and the family also fears being squashed or forced to move. The peril is brief rather than brutal, but it is real enough to unsettle younger children. Parents may want to discuss how the film uses danger to show the value of caution and care.

Language & Humour

• Language stays mild, with words and phrases like “beans,” “filthy rats,” “vicious,” and “trap.” There is also a brief mention of “wine” and “sherry,” but no coarse profanity or sexual joking.

Other Content Notes

• The film’s emotional core is the friendship between Shawn and Arrietty, built through lines like “I won’t hurt you, I promise” and “Maybe we could be friends?” That tenderness gives the movie warmth, even as both families worry about danger and separation.

Notable Moments

• First borrowing: Arrietty goes out on her first borrowing trip with her father, learning the rules of caution and the family’s way of surviving in secret.

  “Tonight’s my first borrowing!”

• Friendship begins: Shawn reaches out gently to Arrietty, and their conversation turns from curiosity to trust.

  “Maybe we could be friends?”

• Jar capture: A Borrower is trapped in a glass jar with plastic wrap, creating one of the film’s most stressful moments.

  “It’s a trap. I just know it.”

Discussion Prompts

• Friendship across difference: What makes Shawn and Arrietty’s friendship feel kind and careful, and how can we show that kind of kindness to people who are different from us?
  • Biblical guidance: Scripture calls believers to love their neighbors and treat others with gentleness, even when they are unfamiliar or different.
  • Scripture: Luke 10:27, Philippians 2:3-4
• Fear and courage: Why do the Borrowers live in fear, and how is Christian courage different from simply trying to stay hidden and safe?
  • Biblical guidance: The Bible teaches that courage comes from trusting the Lord, not from controlling every danger around us.
  • Scripture: Joshua 1:9, Psalm 56:3
• Human worth and care: What does the movie say about small lives and vulnerable people, and how does that compare with the way God values every person?
  • Biblical guidance: Every person bears God’s image, so human worth is not measured by size, strength, or usefulness.
  • Scripture: Genesis 1:27, Matthew 10:29-31