LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
An offbeat, heart-warming story of healing, community, and sacrificial love.
Should You Watch It?
This is an unusual premise, but the film treats Lars with remarkable tenderness. His family and hometown respond to his delusion with sacrificial love, and the story finds healing, real love, humor, and grace in that decision. Strong Christian values run through the film, including churchgoing, compassion, and people giving themselves for someone who is struggling.
The movie is also well made. Ryan Gosling gives Lars depth and sincerity rather than turning him into a stereotype. You may laugh in one moment and find yourself with tear-filled eyes in the next.
The content concerns are real but limited: a few sexual references, one mention of a pornographic website, three light obscenities, five profanities, light alcohol use, and smoking. For older audiences, this is a thoughtful and enjoyable choice. WORTH THE TRIP — AGES 13 AND UP.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESLars is a socially challenged young man who lives alone in the garage behind his brother and sister-in-law’s house. He quietly attends church, goes to his office job, and avoids connection with others.
Then Lars announces that his Internet girlfriend, Bianca, has returned from a missionary trip. His family is eager to meet her—until they discover that Bianca is a very lifelike doll. A psychiatrist urges them to enter Lars’ delusion with him, and soon the entire town becomes involved.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is one of the better-made and more enjoyable films in the source review’s assessment. The offbeat story is filled with heart and depth, while the cast and production team create a quality emotional journey.
Ryan Gosling especially shines as Lars. He gives the character sincerity and dimension, avoiding a cheap or stereotypical portrayal of a hermit. The result is funny, touching, and surprisingly redemptive.
The Worldview
The film presents a strong Christian worldview. Church services, prayers, hymns, Scripture reading, and a Christian funeral appear in the story. More importantly, the townspeople live out sacrificial love as they help a delusional young man, and they receive love and appreciation in return.
That compassion aligns with the biblical call to bear one another’s burdens. The film also includes very light romanticism in its view of relationships, and its central situation involves a delusion that the community chooses to support as part of Lars’ healing. Still, the review identifies strong Christian values as one of the film’s chief strengths.
At its heart, the movie points toward sacrificial care for vulnerable people. Scripture says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
; Strong Christian worldview in which several church services are shown, prayers, hymns and scripture reading depicted, Christian funeral and strong theme of people living sacrificially to help delusional young man, very light romanticism in view of relationships; three light obscenities and five profanities; no violence except two people slip and fall in snow; light sexual content includes man orders a “real doll” off the Internet (however, it should be noted that he does not use the doll in any perverse way), and two quick references by other people as to the doll’s intended purpose including one quick mention of pornographic website, and one unmarried kiss; no nudity, although blurred website can be seen out of focus in the background; light alcohol use includes some wine and beer at a dinner party; smoking; and, light miscellaneous immorality includes some gossip and married couple jokingly makes $5 bet on whether their brother will join them for dinner.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Lars’ family and town choose to help him with patience and sacrificial love. What might it look like to bear someone else’s burdens without losing wisdom or truth?
Galatians 6:2 · Ephesians 4:15The townspeople begin to see Bianca as meaningful to the community. How can shared care and service help people feel known and valued?
Romans 12:10–13 · Philippians 2:3–4Lars is lonely and struggles to connect with others. How does Christian fellowship address loneliness, and how can your family welcome someone who feels isolated?
Hebrews 10:24–25 · Romans 15:7The film includes church services, prayers, hymns, and Scripture reading. How should Christian faith shape the way a community responds to someone who is suffering?
James 1:27 · 1 Thessalonians 5:14The Final Word
An offbeat story becomes a warm, funny, and deeply redemptive portrait of sacrificial love. The film’s few sexual references and brief foul language call for discernment, but older viewers may find a moving and enjoyable experience. WORTH THE TRIP — AGES 13 AND UP.
