Where the Wild Things Are Christian Movie Review (2009)

Guidance: Talk Together

This is a thoughtful, emotionally heavy family film with mild language, threatening behavior, and some rough fantasy violence. Its bigger questions center on anger, loneliness, and what healthy love and authority look like in a family.

Why This Guidance Level

This film sits in a middle zone for families: the surface content is mostly PG-level, but the emotional intensity is real. The fantasy violence, threats, and mild language are not extreme, yet the story spends a lot of time inside anger, loneliness, and fractured relationships, so many Christian families will want to talk through what the film is saying about love, authority, and belonging.

Faith & Worldview Perspective

The movie is built around emotional honesty and the longing to be known, which gives it real human insight. It also presents a messy picture of family life and self-rule, where feelings often drive behavior and reconciliation is tender but incomplete. Parents may want to discuss how Christ offers a firmer hope than imagination or raw emotion can provide.

Truths Reflected

• People long to be loved and to belong.
• Anger and loneliness can damage relationships.

Tensions to Discuss

• The film treats self-expression and emotional release as central answers, rather than repentance and wise self-control.
• Family authority and reconciliation are portrayed in a strained, human way without clear reference to the healing hope found in Christ.

Content & Discernment Markers

Occult & Spiritual Content

• Occult material does not stand out here. The fantasy world is imaginative and symbolic rather than rooted in spellcasting, ritual, or explicit supernatural instruction.

Sexuality & Relationships

• There is a brief adult relationship detail when Max’s mother has a man over for dinner; they drink wine and kiss briefly. It stays mild, but parents may want to note the presence of a boyfriend in the home setting.

Identity Themes

• Max is defined by loneliness, anger, and a deep wish to be wanted. He lashes out at home, then tries to find a place where he matters, which gives the film its emotional center. Parents may want to discuss identity as something rooted in being known by God, not just in being accepted by a group.

Violence & Intensity

• The Wild Things are chaotic and threatening: Carol shouts, “Tear them all down,” and “Burn down!” while others smash structures and join a dirt-clod conflict. Max is also threatened with being eaten, and there is stormy peril during his boat trip. The action is not graphic, but the mood is tense and sometimes frightening.

Language & Humour

• Language stays mild but includes “damn,” “hell,” “stupid,” and “God” used as an exclamation, along with sharp insults and angry outbursts. The tone is more emotional than profane, but parents will still notice the rough edges in the dialogue.

Other Content Notes

• The film leans dark in tone, with washed-out visuals, a haunting score, and a strong focus on emotional turmoil. It also includes a brief drinking scene with wine at dinner, which stays minor but adds to the adult texture of the home setting.

Notable Moments

• Home conflict: Max explodes at home, his mother corrects him firmly, and the scene captures the film’s tense family atmosphere.

  “Get off the damn counter, Max! Now! Now!… This is not acceptable behavior. You are not acceptable.”

• Wild Things threaten: Carol’s rage turns destructive as he orders the group to tear things down and burn them, then talks about eating Max.

  “Tear them all down. Tear them down. Burn down!”

• Lonely confession: The film’s emotional core comes through when Carol insists that nobody cares and he is the only one who wants the group to stay together.

  “Nobody cares. I’m the only one that cares… that we don’t stay together.”

• Return home: The story closes on the ache and comfort of coming home, with Max and his mother reconnecting after the chaos.

  “I’m sorry, honey. I would have done something about it.”

Discussion Prompts

• Anger and self-control: What did Max and Carol do when they felt hurt or left out, and what would a wiser response look like?
  • Biblical guidance: Scripture calls believers to be slow to anger and to let self-control shape our words and actions.
  • Scripture: James 1:19-20, Proverbs 15:1
• Belonging and identity: Why do you think Max wanted so badly to be accepted, and where should a person look for lasting worth?
  • Biblical guidance: A Christian answer begins with being known and loved by God in Christ, not just by a group’s approval.
  • Scripture: Ephesians 1:4-5, 1 John 3:1
• Family conflict and forgiveness: How did the film show the pain between Max and his mother, and what would forgiveness and repair look like in a real family?
  • Biblical guidance: God calls families to truth, patience, and forgiveness, even when discipline is needed.
  • Scripture: Colossians 3:12-14, Ephesians 6:1-4