MALEFICENT: MISTRESS OF EVIL
Spectacular fantasy, but its mysticism is for adults.
Should You Watch It?
This is a highly entertaining and even compelling fantasy with incredible visuals and costumes. It also includes strong Christian, moral, and pro-life elements, including sacrifice, love, protecting the innocent, and a Christian wedding.
But the movie’s fairy-tale world contains magic and mysticism. Maleficent participates in ritualistic ceremonies, and the story presents magical power connected with life and death. Fantasy violence and frightening moments may also be too much for children.
The answer is clear: adults who can thoughtfully navigate the mystical material may find much to appreciate, but this is not a family viewing choice for children or young teens.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESAurora is now grown and rules the Moors, a magical kingdom inhabited by fairies, trolls, and other creatures. When Prince Philip proposes, their marriage could unite Aurora’s kingdom with the human kingdom.
Philip invites Aurora and Maleficent to meet his parents. But Philip’s mother, Queen Ingrith, deeply dislikes Maleficent, and the dinner quickly turns hostile. Maleficent responds angrily, setting the two kingdoms on a dangerous path.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this film is exceptionally entertaining and technically impressive. Its visuals and costumes are incredible, giving the fantasy world a memorable sense of scale and beauty.
The film is also compelling. Its story promotes sacrifice, love, and protecting the innocent, while a Christian wedding adds a positive moral element. The source review offers no further craft criticism.
The Worldview
The film strongly promotes sacrifice, motherhood, love, and peace. It presents protecting the innocent as a moral responsibility, includes a Christian wedding performed by an archbishop, and refers to a baby’s christening. A cross design also appears in a dress. These elements give the story a meaningful moral and Christian framework.
At the same time, the film’s fantasy world includes magical creatures, magic used to hurt others, ritualistic ceremonies around a fire, chanting, and the transfer of one character’s power into another. It also refers to Maleficent holding the power of life and death in her hands. Those ideas depart from a biblical view of God’s authority and make the mystical material spiritually troubling.
The film further includes environmentalist elements about humans destroying nature and politically correct elements against using guns. These ideas are present alongside the movie’s positive moral themes, not instead of them.
The story’s call to sacrifice and protect others connects with Jesus’ words: “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.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Strong Christian, moral worldview promotes sacrifice, motherhood, love, peace, plus an archbishop performs a wedding ceremony in a church and seems to be holding a Bible, there’s a cross design in a dress, there’s a pro-life theme about the innocent not being protected, and they should be, and references to the christening of a baby, but there’s some magic and mysticism set in a fantasy fairy tale world, a character uses magic to hurt others, characters do a sort of ceremony around a fire and chant, it looks as if one character’s power goes into another character, and there are references to the title character holding the power of life and death in her hands, plus there are some environmentalist elements about humans destroying nature and some politically correct elements against using guns
Foul Language
No foul Language
Violence
Strong fantasy and adventure violence includes men falling from castles, war, shooting and gun use, a character shot and wounded, this character falls from a great height but survives, lots of jeopardy, and characters go to war
Sex
No sexual immorality, but an engaged couple kisses one another
Nudity
Upper male nudity
Alcohol Use
No alcohol use
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or drug use;
Miscellaneous Immorality
Lying and deceit from the villain.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The film presents sacrifice and protecting the innocent as moral responsibilities. What does love for others require from us in practice?
John 15:13 · Philippians 2:3–4The story includes a Christian wedding and a possible union between two kingdoms. What makes marriage a covenant rather than merely a personal promise?
Genesis 2:24 · Ephesians 5:25The film uses magic and mystical ceremonies in a fairy-tale world. How should Christians discern stories that portray supernatural power?
Deuteronomy 18:10–12 · Philippians 4:8The movie includes concern about humans destroying nature. What responsibility did God give people toward the world He made?
Genesis 1:28 · Genesis 2:15The Final Word
This is a beautiful, compelling, morally serious fantasy, but its mysticism and frightening violence require mature discernment. Adults may find the journey worthwhile; children and young teens should stay away. Our verdict is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For other choices, see.
