HACKSAW RIDGE
One unarmed man's faith survives hell and changes everyone who sees it.
Should You Watch It?
This is the decision, plainly. Mel Gibson has made his most openly Christian film since THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, and it earns every bit of that comparison. Desmond Doss's true story — a conscientious objector who refused to carry a weapon and still saved dozens of lives on one of World War II's bloodiest battlefields — is told with skill, restraint on the faith content, and real emotional power. It will make you laugh, and it will make you cry.
It will also make you flinch. The Battle of Okinawa is rendered with gruesome, bloody honesty: mutilated bodies, men blown apart, a ritual suicide and decapitation. That's the cost of this film's power, and it's real.
If you're an older teen or adult who can sit through hard combat footage for the sake of a story about uncompromising conviction, this is a rare and worthwhile film. If you're choosing for children, this one isn't for them. The answer: worth the trip, for older teens and adults.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESDesmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) grows up in rural Virginia with a father broken by the violence of World War I and a promise to God he'll never break: he will never touch a weapon or take a life. When World War II calls, Desmond enlists anyway — as a conscientious objector, determined to serve as a medic. His commanders think he's useless, even dangerous, and try to force him out. The Army finally lets him go into battle unarmed. What happens next, on a ridge above Okinawa, is history — and we'll let the film tell you the rest.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is filmmaking at its best, and the source material backs it up fully. Mel Gibson directs with the same intensity he brought to THE PASSION, but here it serves a story of nonviolence rather than one of suffering alone. Andrew Garfield gives a phenomenal, humble performance as Desmond, and Vince Vaughn's drill-sergeant humor balances the film's heavier stretches without undercutting them. The film doesn't water down its Christian content to make it palatable — it trusts the story to carry the weight, and it does.
The Worldview
This is an extremely strong Christian, biblical film, and it doesn't hide it. Desmond is portrayed as a Christ figure, willing to lay down his life not just for friends but for enemies — and the movie is, at its core, a call to faith in Jesus Christ. Prayer, conviction rooted in Scripture, forgiveness, and compassion run through every act. Desmond doesn't judge the men who choose to kill in war; he simply refuses to compromise what he believes God asked of him, even under ridicule, beatings, and the threat of court martial. He also owns his own sin honestly — including the hatred he once carried toward his father — and chooses love instead, asking his wife to tell his father he loves him.
The film also carries a strong patriotic thread: that serving your country and refusing to take a life are not contradictions. Ultimately, this isn't a pacifist manifesto — it's a story about standing firm under pressure to compromise, and about how one man's uncompromising faith reshapes the hearts of the soldiers and officers around him.
Desmond's longing to save rather than destroy echoes a deeper truth Scripture names directly: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Extremely strong Christian, biblical worldview with the hero being willing to lay down his life even for his enemies and extolling faith, prayer, conviction on the Bible, forgiveness, and compassion, with many overt references and discussions on what the Bible says about killing and violence; strong patriotic message about serving in the military even if you refuse to take a life; 27 obscenities and three profanities, but the “f” words were edited out; very strong and strong war violence with blood splatter includes men shot and stabbed and blown to pieces by grenades, dead mutilated bodies are shown in various forms of disfigurement, Japanese commander ritually stabs himself (hari-kari) and is decapitated, boy hits brother in the head with a brick, father beats his wife; several kisses between unmarried couple and implied sex after couple gets married, but camera cuts away quickly; upper male nudity and rear male nudity; drinking and drunkenness, though not condoned; smoking but no drug use; and, characters try to get Christian man to compromise his convictions, but they confess.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Desmond refuses to break a promise to God, even when it costs him beatings, ridicule, and the threat of court martial. What convictions have you refused to compromise, even under pressure?
Daniel 3:16–18 · Acts 5:29Desmond admits he once hated his father enough to want him dead in his heart — then tells him "I love you." What does real forgiveness cost, and how did Desmond get there?
Matthew 5:43–44 · Colossians 3:13The film argues this isn't a story about pacifism, but about standing firm under pressure to compromise. Where in your own life are you being pressured to compromise a conviction?
1 Corinthians 16:13 · Ephesians 6:13Desmond becomes a Christ figure by risking his life to save both friend and enemy alike. How does his choice picture what Jesus did for us?
Romans 5:8 · John 15:13The Final Word
Mel Gibson has made a brutal, beautiful, unmistakably Christian film — one that trusts faith, conviction, and love of enemy to carry a true story of war. The battlefield violence is graphic and the film earns its R rating honestly, but for older teens and adults ready for it, this is a rare and powerful watch. Our answer stands: worth the trip, for older teens and adults.
