Song of the Sea
Acceptable with guidance. Age: 7+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
Ben and his little sister Saoirse live in a lighthouse in Ireland. Their mother is gone and their father is very sad. Saoirse does not talk, and she is a selkie, a girl from old Irish stories who can turn into a seal. Ben learns to stop being angry and to take care of her. This is one of the most beautiful animated films of its decade, and Greydanus gives it an A. It is also soaked in Celtic myth: selkies, fairies and an owl witch, set on Halloween night. Even the witch, a figure taken from an old pagan goddess, is healed and turns helper. The statues of Our Lady are in the picture, but the wonder at the end belongs to the fairy world, so the old myths stand level with the faith. A fine film for a family that will talk it through.
For parents
PG, and Common Sense Media says seven and up. Greydanus at Decent Films says Kids & Up with an asterisk, and warns of frightening scenes and the loss of a parent. Things to know: the mother is lost when Saoirse is born. In a couple of scenes it seems Ben or Saoirse may die. Macha the Owl Witch looks frightening and sends owls that drag Saoirse away. In the story she turned her own son to stone by taking his feelings. She is not left as the villain: when Saoirse's music breaks her jars, her feelings and her kindness come back, and she helps the children get home. Greydanus notes she is drawn from a goddess of Irish legend. The night is Halloween, the old feast of Samhain. The father and a ferryman drink beer in a pub. The children shelter at a holy well full of statues of Mary, images of Jesus and the saints, and rosaries, and fairy lights appear there beside the votive candles. Tell your children plainly: selkies, fairies and the old gods are made-up stories, Mary and the saints are real, and we bring our troubles to God, not to fairy folk. Ask: what does grief do to the father? Why is taking away sad feelings not a kindness? Where do Christians take their sorrow?