Amazing Grace
Recommended. Age: 13+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
William Wilberforce is a man in the British government who loves God. He spends twenty years trying to stop the selling of slaves. His old friend John Newton, who once sailed slave ships, helps him keep going. This is a noble, steady film about a Christian who keeps fighting for justice when everyone tells him to quit. Newton's grief over his past is a living picture of repentance. Some dialogue is stiff. The one age is 13, set by the USCCB's A-II; Common Sense Media says 10.
For parents
Good for 13 and up. The one age is 13, set by the USCCB's A-II; Common Sense Media says 10 and the MPAA rated it PG. Expect spoken descriptions of cruelty on slave ships, including rape, a branded freed man, a beaten horse, laudanum use for pain, mild swearing and a racial slur. Talk about Newton, the slave-ship captain who wrote Amazing Grace: real repentance changes a life. Ask: why did Wilberforce stay in politics instead of leaving to study theology? What does it cost to keep doing right when you keep losing? Every person bears God's image (CCC 1935).