THE NEXT THREE DAYS
A methodical family thriller with an exciting finish — for adults only.
Should You Watch It?
THE NEXT THREE DAYS builds real sympathy for a husband, wife and son whose lives are shattered by a murder conviction. Its strongest convictions are pro-family and pro-justice, and the suspense becomes most effective when the husband’s careful plan finally reaches its urgent climax.
But the movie asks you to root for a man who breaks his wife out of jail, evades police, threatens prison guards and steals money from drug dealers. Strong foul language, violence and suicide content make this too intense for children and young teens. The story’s moral dilemma is serious, but it does not make the material suitable for a family movie night.
If you are an adult who can engage the questions without being drawn into the film’s lawbreaking, it is worth seeing; otherwise, choose something gentler.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESJohn Brennan is a mild-mannered community college professor with a wife, Lara, and a young son, Luke. Their pleasant family life collapses when police arrest Lara for murdering her boss.
Three years later, Lara remains in jail while the family’s legal appeals reach a dead end. When Lara’s despair leads her to attempt suicide, John decides to risk everything on a plan to break her out.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means a solid but imperfect thriller. THE NEXT THREE DAYS is methodical as it follows John planning the jailbreak, but it delivers spurts of suspense and jeopardy as obstacles accumulate. The final plan produces a very suspenseful climax and a frantic manhunt, with plenty of surprises along the way.
The movie’s weakness is that it withholds part of Lara’s story about the murder until the end, leaving her innocence in doubt and cheating the viewer somewhat. Still, its exciting finish and intense sympathy for the family give the film genuine merit.
The Worldview
THE NEXT THREE DAYS strongly exalts family bonds and the pursuit of justice. John’s faith in his wife never wavers, and the story presents his desire to put his family back together as deeply sympathetic. A brief Christian symbol in the background indicates that John’s parents are Christian.
The film’s central moral problem is harder. John must break the law, threaten officials who are doing their jobs and steal from criminals in order to save his family. The story treats the police, especially the detective leading the manhunt, as people doing their duty, but it still asks whether desperate circumstances can justify serious wrongdoing. Its moral vision is therefore mixed: it values family and justice while making lawbreaking part of the path toward them.
Scripture honors family faithfulness and justice, but it also says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities” (Romans 13:1). The film leaves you weighing what loyalty can demand—and what obedience still forbids.
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Morally ambiguous tale asking how far one should go to protect one’s wife and child, even if that meant breaking the law, threatening police officials just doing their job and stealing money from criminals, with strong moral elements of a husband trying to bring his family back together and some Romantic elements of fighting society to get justice for a person who you think is falsely accused, plus brief Christian symbol in background indicates protagonist’s parents are Christian; 10 obscenities, five strong profanities and protagonist gets sick and vomits; strong violence includes protagonist shoots drug dealer in arm to get him to reveal the location of his money, protagonist and drug dealer shoot it out to the death, drug dealer deliberately shoots one of his cohorts, protagonist locks another cohort of drug dealer in basement, protagonist threatens police officers to break his wife out of jail, police chase protagonist and his family, protagonist hits a prison guard and ties up two guards, drug dealers beat up man, and imprisoned woman tries to commit suicide, which leads husband to attempt a jail break for her; no sex scenes but light innuendo in one scene when during an argument woman accuses her future sister-in-law of wanting her husband and makes a remark about the woman’s low-cut dress; no nudity, but female cleavage in one scene and woman wears a tight-fitting T-shirt in one scene at the end; alcohol use; no smoking but protagonist buys drugs to find a criminal who can get him fake passports, fake IDs and fake Social Security cards; and, strong miscellaneous immorality such as stealing, drug dealer lies to protagonist, protagonist tries to break his wife out of prison after she is convicted of murdering her boss because he believes his wife is innocent, protagonist steals money from drug dealer who gets killed during brief gun battle, protagonist buys fake passports, IDs and Social Security cards so he can break his wife out of prison, and some moral ambiguity.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
John believes protecting his family justifies breaking the law. How should loyalty to family shape our choices, and where must it stop?
Romans 13:1–4 · Ephesians 6:1–4The story presents justice as especially urgent when a person may have been falsely accused. What does Scripture require from people who judge or investigate others?
Deuteronomy 16:18–20 · Micah 6:8John’s wife responds to prolonged suffering with despair. How can a family respond when someone feels hopeless?
Psalm 34:18 · Galatians 6:2The film asks how far someone should go to protect a spouse and child. What would Jesus say about sacrifice, truth and love for others?
John 15:13 · 1 Corinthians 13:6–7The Final Word
This is a methodical thriller with an exciting finish and a strong commitment to family and justice. Its lawbreaking, strong language, violence and intensity make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For discerning adults, the answer is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For another option, see.
