FLY AWAY HOME
A moving father-daughter story with a few concerns for younger viewers.
Should You Watch It?
FLY AWAY HOME offers a tender story about a grieving daughter and the father she barely knows. The film’s strongest achievement is its encouragement of healthy relationships between fathers and daughters, as Amy and Thomas slowly find a bond through caring for abandoned goslings.
The scenery and cinematography are striking, and the adventure gives the family story an uplifting center. But three needless obscenities, an implied live-in girlfriend, and a New Age idea about Amy’s deceased mother keep this from being an unquestioned choice for every household.
If your family has middle schoolers or older children, FLY AWAY HOME is worth seeing with room for a conversation about grief, family love, and where comfort comes from.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESAfter Amy Alden’s mother dies, Amy moves from New Zealand to Ontario to live with Thomas, her eccentric father, whom she has not seen since her parents divorced. When Amy discovers abandoned Canadian geese eggs, the goslings become a bridge between father and daughter.
As local authorities threaten to confiscate the birds, Amy and Thomas devise a plan to teach them to fly south for the winter using ultralight planes.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means FLY AWAY HOME is a good but imperfect family drama. Its scenery and cinematography are striking, and the film succeeds in building an uplifting relationship between a father and daughter.
The story’s emotional center is Amy and Thomas learning to love each other. The film is marred by three needless obscenities and a few content concerns, but its central encouragement of healthy family relationships gives it genuine merit.
The Worldview
FLY AWAY HOME presents family love as a moral good. Amy and Thomas begin distant and wounded, but caring for the goslings helps them become a family. The film also values perseverance, responsibility, and protecting the birds as they prepare for migration.
The film departs from a biblical view when Thomas consoles Amy with the idea that her mother’s spirit still watches over their lives. That New Age suggestion offers comfort, but it shifts attention from God’s care and the biblical hope that belongs to those who grieve. The implied live-in girlfriend situation also complicates an otherwise wholesome family story.
The film’s central longing is for a broken father and daughter to be reconciled. Scripture calls fathers to nurture rather than discourage their children: “Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged” (Colossians 3:21).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Moral worldview of family love with New Age element where deceased mother presides over the family; 3 obscenities; implied live-in girlfriend situation; and, one scene with father standing in front yard in his underwear
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Amy and Thomas learn to love each other through patience and shared responsibility. What helps a strained family relationship heal?
Colossians 3:21 · Ephesians 4:2–3Thomas tells Amy that her mother’s spirit still watches over her. How is that different from trusting God to care for us when we grieve?
Psalm 34:18 · 2 Corinthians 1:3–4Amy and her father work to protect the goslings and guide them toward a natural habitat. What responsibilities has God given people toward the creatures and world He made?
Genesis 1:26–28 · Proverbs 12:10The Final Word
FLY AWAY HOME is an uplifting, beautifully photographed story about a father and daughter learning to love each other. Three obscenities and a New Age spiritual idea call for discernment, but families with middle schoolers and older children can find much to discuss and appreciate. Our answer is WORTH THE TRIP — AGES 10 AND UP.
