ESTHER
A faithful biblical drama of courage, prayer, and godly womanhood.
Should You Watch It?
ESTHER is a faithful dramatization of the Old Testament story, made with clear respect for its biblical foundation. It presents Esther as kind, compassionate, obedient, and courageous, while emphasizing prayer, fasting, faithfulness, and trust in God.
The film is well made for its time, and the acting improves as the story unfolds. Its violence and sexuality are implied rather than graphically shown, but the combination of those elements with drunkenness calls for discernment with older children.
If your family includes older children or adults ready for those concerns, this is a worthwhile biblical drama to watch together.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESEsther lives with her cousin, Mordecai, as a Jewish exile in the Persian city of Susa. When King Ahasuerus seeks a new queen, Esther is taken into the royal harem and eventually chosen because of her beauty, quiet wisdom, and character.
But danger threatens Esther’s people when the King’s chief advisor turns against the Jews. Esther must decide whether to risk her life by approaching the King on behalf of her people.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means ESTHER is a solid, well-made biblical drama with some notable strengths. As a remastered television movie from the 1990s, it is well made for its time, and the acting progressively improves as the storyline unfolds.
The film builds toward an emotionally powerful scene in which Esther, Mordecai, and the Jewish people pray to the Lord and plead for deliverance. It also handles violence and sexuality with restraint, implying them without graphic depiction. The result is a worthwhile film, though its older television-movie style keeps it from being exceptional.
The Worldview
ESTHER presents a very strong Christian, biblical worldview. It emphasizes obedience, respect for authority, kindness, compassion, faithfulness, and trust in God. The movie is also faithful to the biblical narrative of Esther and depicts the value of prayer, fasting, and trusting in the Lord.
Esther is the film’s clearest model. She is kind and compassionate, obeys authority, and shows strong faith and trust in God while facing danger on behalf of her people. The story also portrays the King’s drunken anger and Haman’s hatred as part of a world where selfishness and violence threaten the innocent.
The film’s central longing is deliverance for God’s people, and its answer is prayerful trust in the Lord. Scripture says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
; Very strong Christian, biblical worldview which emphasizes the values of obedience, respect for authority, kindness, compassion, faithfulness, and trust in God movie is also faithful to the biblical narrative of Esther found in Scripture and depicts the value of prayer, fasting and trusting in the Lord; no foul language; light violence with a battle scene, an assassination plot, men push a woman up against a wall as if to rape her, and a man is hanged upon a gallows; light sexuality with a woman asking a servant a question regarding sex, a kissing scene, implied sex between a man and woman, and a light kiss shared between a married couple; light nudity as a man starts to undress a woman but no explicit nudity is shown except for a baring of her shoulders and a glimpse of her bare back as she lies in bed; moderate drinking as the King and his officials are shown drinking in several scenes and the King is shown clearly drunk in one scene; no smoking or drug use; and, stealing, lying.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Esther faces danger on behalf of her people. When has courage meant doing what is right despite fear?
Joshua 1:9 · Esther 4:14The film emphasizes prayer and fasting before Esther acts. How can prayer prepare us to make difficult decisions?
Matthew 6:16–18 · Philippians 4:6–7Esther is described as kind, compassionate, obedient, and faithful. Which of these qualities is God developing in you?
Micah 6:8 · Galatians 5:22–23The King’s drunken anger causes harm. How can we practice self-control when our emotions are strong?
Proverbs 16:32 · Galatians 5:22–23The Final Word
ESTHER is a faithful, increasingly compelling biblical drama with a strong model of godly womanhood. Its light violence, implied sexuality, and drinking call for discernment with younger viewers. For older children and adults, WORTH THE TRIP — OLDER CHILDREN AND ADULTS.
