Roald Dahl’s The Witches Christian Movie Review (2020)

Guidance: Talk Together

This adaptation leans into creepy fantasy, child-endangerment, and unsettling witch imagery more than many families expect from a PG title. The main concern is not sexual content or harsh language, but the film’s frightening tone, occult framework, and scenes that may trouble younger or sensitive children.

Why This Guidance Level

This film sits in the middle range for family discernment because its strongest issues are sustained creepy tension, frightening witches, and repeated danger involving children. It is still a mainstream family fantasy, but the dark tone and supernatural evil may land harder than the PG label suggests, especially for younger viewers. Many families may want conversation afterward about fear, evil, courage, and where true hope is found in Jesus Christ rather than in magic or human cleverness alone.

Faith & Worldview Perspective

The story presents evil clearly through witches who prey on children, so it does not glamorize darkness in a simple way. At the same time, it builds its conflict around witchcraft, curses, and supernatural power outside any Christian frame, which can normalize occult fantasy as part of the adventure. The film also values courage, family love, and sacrificial care. Parents may want to discuss the difference between fictional magic and the Bible’s warnings about seeking spiritual power apart from God, while pointing children to Christ as the true answer to fear and evil.

Truths Reflected

• A loving grandmother’s care reflects the goodness of family protection and sacrificial love.
• Courage in the face of evil is treated as admirable rather than foolish.

Tensions to Discuss

• The story’s supernatural world is built around witches, curses, and magical power outside the hope and authority of Jesus Christ.
• A Christian parent may want to discuss how Scripture treats occult power as spiritually dangerous, not playful or morally neutral.

Content & Discernment Markers

Occult & Spiritual Content

• Witches and witchcraft are central to the story’s fantasy world. The film includes talk of magic, curses, and supernatural transformation, with witches presented as real and dangerous. This matters for Christian families because the conflict is driven by occult power rather than by prayer, God’s help, or hope in Christ. Parents may want to discuss why the Bible warns against seeking spiritual power apart from God.
• The witches’ appearance and behavior are designed to be disturbing, with eerie reveals and body-focused horror elements that can feel intense for children even in a fantasy setting.

Sexuality & Relationships

• Sexual content does not stand out here. Relationship material is limited to family bonds and a few light social interactions.

Identity Themes

• The story includes transformation themes tied to curses and altered bodies. These moments are played for fantasy-horror tension rather than for identity messaging, but younger children may still need help processing fear around bodily change.

Violence & Intensity

• Children are repeatedly placed in danger by predatory witches. The threat is more frightening than graphic, but the idea of adults hunting, trapping, or targeting children can be upsetting.
• The film includes suspense, chase-style peril, and scenes of magical threat. Some moments are intense because the danger feels personal and directed at vulnerable children.
• There is also grief in the background, including the loss of Luke’s parents before the main story begins. Parents may want to discuss how fear and loss can be brought honestly to God.

Language & Humour

• Language appears mild for the genre. Families are more likely to notice tense insults, taunting, and creepy threat dialogue than stronger profanity.

Other Content Notes

• Scary scenes are a major factor here. The film uses unsettling makeup, transformation effects, sudden reveals, and a twisted fairy-tale tone that may linger with sensitive viewers.
• The emotional center is the bond between Luke and his grandmother, which gives the story warmth and a stabilizing moral anchor amid the darker fantasy elements.

Notable Moments

• Witch reveal and transformation horror: The witches’ true nature is presented in a way meant to unsettle children, with grotesque visual and body-horror style elements.
• Children targeted by witches: Much of the tension comes from vulnerable children being hunted, trapped, or threatened by supernatural evil.
• Grandmother’s protective care: The relationship between Luke and his grandmother provides the film’s clearest picture of love, courage, and protection.

Discussion Prompts

• Fear and courage: What made the witches feel scary, and what does real courage look like when we are afraid?
  • Biblical guidance: Scripture does not tell us to pretend fear is unreal. It points us to God’s presence and care in the middle of fear.
  • Scripture: Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 56:3-4
• Occult power versus God’s truth: How does this story treat magic and witchcraft, and how is that different from what God teaches?
  • Biblical guidance: The Bible warns against occult practices and calls God’s people to trust Him rather than seek spiritual power elsewhere. Christian hope is in Jesus Christ, not in magic.
  • Scripture: Deuteronomy 18:10-12, Acts 19:18-20
• Family love and protection: How did Luke’s grandmother care for him, and what does that show about sacrificial love?
  • Biblical guidance: Family care can reflect God’s kindness, especially when the strong protect the vulnerable.
  • Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, Psalm 68:5-6
• Good and evil: How can we tell the difference between what is merely exciting in a story and what is actually evil?
  • Biblical guidance: Christians are called to hate evil, cling to what is good, and remember that Jesus Christ is greater than every dark power.
  • Scripture: Romans 12:9, Colossians 2:15