BELFAST
A brilliant, heart-stirring family drama of faith, courage, and joy.
Should You Watch It?
BELFAST is a beautifully crafted, life-affirming drama about a young boy and his Protestant family during the violence and social upheaval of Northern Ireland in 1969. It is funny, dramatic, joyful, and sometimes heartbreaking. Its strongest moments honor family, faith, compassion, Godly love, gratitude, peace, courage, and doing the right thing.
The movie also contains about 20 bad words, including at least one “f” word and four strong profanities. Two scenes of rioting and looting bring real danger, and a father’s universalist comment about his son marrying outside the faith undermines the New Testament warning against being unequally yoked.
If you are choosing for mature teenagers or adults, BELFAST is worth the trip; younger children need a more discerning decision.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESIn 1969, nine-year-old Buddy lives with his Protestant family in a mostly Catholic neighborhood of Belfast. When violence erupts, his family must face the danger around them while Buddy tries to understand the conflict, faith, and mysteries of life.
At home, Buddy enjoys the love of his parents and grandparents, explores his affection for a girl in his class, and watches his parents wrestle with whether to remain in Belfast or move to England. Meanwhile, a Protestant vigilante threatens the family.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means BELFAST is an exceptional film. Kenneth Branagh writes and directs it beautifully, drawing great performances from the entire cast, including newcomer Jude Hill as Buddy.
The movie’s scenes between Buddy and his family are delightful, heartwarming, poignant, and morally uplifting. It also contains excitement, exhilaration, suspense, and a satisfying climax and resolution. Filmed in black and white and accompanied by the soulful songs of Van Morrison, BELFAST is brilliant, dramatic, funny, and sometimes heartbreaking.
The Worldview
BELFAST has a strong Christian, redemptive, morally uplifting, and pro-family worldview. It extols family, doing the right thing, faith, compassion, Godly love, gratitude, peace, courage, standing up to bullies, and joy. A Protestant pastor’s fiery talk about Heaven and Hell piques Buddy’s imagination, while a lengthy recitation of the ending of 1 Corinthians 13 becomes one of the film’s most heartfelt scenes.
The film also presents violence between Protestants and Catholics, along with the mysteries and joys of life in a culture shaped by faith. However, Buddy’s Protestant father makes a universalist comment about Buddy potentially marrying his Catholic girlfriend, saying it would not matter if she were Hindu or an antichrist. Though partly presented as a joke, the comment undermines the New Testament warning against being unequally yoked.
The film’s central vision of love, family, courage, and peace aligns with the biblical call to love others faithfully: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13).
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, pro-family worldview about a young Protestant boy and his family trying to appreciate the mysteries and joys of life in 1969 Belfast when violence breaks out between Catholics and Protestants, with a scene containing a lengthy recitation of the ending of 1 Corinthians 13, Protestant Pastor gives a fiery talk about Heaven and Hell that piques the young boy’s imagination, and delightful heartwarming scenes between the boy and his parents and grandparents and the culture around him that extols doing the right thing, faith, compassion, Godly love, gratitude, peace, courage, standing up to bullies, and joy, but the father makes a universalist comment in one scene that undermines the New Testament warning against being unequally yoked
Foul Language
Nine or 10 obscenities (including one “f” word, one possible “f” word, and an “s” word with an “e” at the end of it, which is how Irish or Scottish people sometimes say it), four strong profanities using Christ, and seven light profanities saying OG or “Holy God”)
Violence
Some strong and light violence includes scene where a mob of masked men riot through a small neighborhood smashing windows, and (at one point) setting fire to a large car’s gas tank, and the car explodes, a scene where a mob of people crashes through a small grocery store to loot it, and a young boy is forced into joining them by an older girl, the young boy enters the store and takes a large box of detergent, but the boy’s mother makes him take it back, but they get trapped in the riot when the police come, some smaller explosions during these two riots, boy and girl fight each other with wooden swords and round shields in one scene, soldiers with guns monitor the Irish neighborhood’s barricades and barbed wire to ensure peace between Protestants and Catholics, two scenes from two Hollywood westerns are shown with some threats of gunplay, bad young man threatens boy’s father to join a group of Protestant vigilantes to give them money father throws a hardball to knock a rock from his older son’s head, some rocks are thrown, bad young man pulls a gun, but it’s knocked out his hand, and he’s arrested, a character dies of natural causes
Sex
No sex
Nudity
No nudity
Alcohol Use
Light infrequent alcohol use
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or drugs;
Miscellaneous Immorality
Three children shoplift from store, and young boy comes away with a small pack of Turkish Delight, and older girl berates him because they hate Turkish Delight (she wanted him to steal a bunch of chocolate from the store, but he turns out to be a pretty incompetent thief, which upsets her).
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Buddy watches violence divide people around him. How can Christians pursue peace when fear and anger are growing?
Matthew 5:9 · Romans 12:18The film celebrates family love and faithfulness. What do your family’s words and choices teach younger people about love?
1 Corinthians 13:4–7 · Deuteronomy 6:6–7Buddy hears about Heaven and Hell and tries to understand sin. Why do we need both truth about sin and compassion for sinners?
Romans 3:23–24 · Ephesians 4:15The film’s universalist comment raises questions about marriage and faith. What does Scripture teach about being unequally yoked?
2 Corinthians 6:14 · Ephesians 5:7The Final Word
BELFAST is a brilliant, delightful, heart-stirring movie with a strong Christian, morally uplifting worldview. Its language, violence, and confused comment about interfaith marriage call for discernment, but mature teenagers and adults can find much to treasure. WORTH THE TRIP — TEENAGERS AND ADULTS.
