X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
Compelling superhero spectacle with Christian themes, but adults only.
Should You Watch It?
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE earns its four-star entertainment rating. It is compelling and entertaining throughout, with a large-scale battle between the young X-Men and an immortal mutant who wants to destroy humanity and create a new world order.
The movie also contains surprisingly overt Christian content. It presents prayer positively, includes an image of Jesus carrying the cross, and speaks of humanity being saved “by the grace of God.” Its moral center is clear: peace is better than hatred, heroes unite against evil, and revenge consumes people.
But the content rating is −2 for good reason. The film includes plenty of action violence, a few strong violent moments, an “f” word, a GD profanity, occult-like powers, and religious references that confuse or contradict its Christian material. Adults who can engage those concerns thoughtfully may find real merit here. Families with children or young teens should choose something else.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESIn ancient Egypt, Apocalypse rules as an immortal mutant who gains power by possessing other mutants. Buried for nearly 5,600 years, he awakens in 1983 to discover that humans no longer treat mutants as gods.
Apocalypse gathers four powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto, and prepares to destroy humankind. Charles Xavier discovers the danger and reconstitutes the X-Men, bringing together Mystique, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Quicksilver, and Nightcrawler to face him.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is a highly entertaining film despite its flaws. The spectacle sometimes threatens to overwhelm the story, but director Bryan Singer keeps the characters and action moving. The movie remains compelling throughout, and its moral and redemptive elements give the superhero conflict added weight.
The premise can be unclear, and the characters are not quite as interesting as those in some other Marvel superhero movies. The veteran actors generally excel, while several younger performers seem to get lost; Evan Peters stands out as Quicksilver. The film also clearly misses Wolverine, although he makes a cameo.
The Worldview
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE presents a mixed worldview. It includes strong moral and Christian elements: prayer matters, Christ’s crucifixion appears in the opening montage, and a character says humanity was saved “by the grace of God.” The heroes also call for peace between mutant and regular humans, while the villains are consumed by hatred, revenge, and the desire to control others.
At the same time, the film includes pagan and occult-like material. Mutants use powers such as telepathy and telekinesis in a scientific framework, but those abilities may still encourage greater acceptance of occult ideas. The film also contains confusing religious claims, including the suggestion that the Bible borrowed the Four Horsemen from Apocalypse and the villain’s claim that people once called him “Elohim” and “Ra.” These moments undermine the movie’s otherwise positive references to God, Jesus, and prayer.
The central conflict is good against evil, with humanity rescued from destruction. The film’s longing for deliverance points beyond itself to God’s saving grace: “For by grace you have been saved through faith” (Ephesians 2:8).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Light mixed pagan worldview with strong moral elements and strong Christian elements that include one X-Man mutant is a Christian, who prays to God at an important moment, a character says humanity was saved from total destruction by “the grace of God,” the beginning credit sequence shows historical events for the last 5,500 years or so in a fast artistic montage that includes metallic looking sculptures and one sculpture clearly shows Jesus Christ carrying his cross to Calvary, and a government official tells the President of the United States at the end that “our prayers were answered,” mixed with some pagan, occult content in a story about human beings having special, sometimes occult-like powers such as telekinesis and telepathy, and brief anti-biblical, blasphemous references such as villain has amassed god-like powers and says in the ancient past people called him “Elohim” (which can refer to the biblical God or false pagan gods) and “Ra” the Egyptian sun god, woman tells man the villain is called “Apocalypse” and is always accompanied by four mutants with powers like the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in the Bible, and man says the villain got that from the Bible, but woman replied that maybe the Bible got that from Apocalypse, and Ancient Egyptian rebels call the villain a “false god,” as they revolt against his harsh rule in first scene; six mostly light obscenities (but including one “f” word), one GD profanity and one or two light exclamatory profanities; brief very strong violence with several images of blood splatter shows Wolverine character going berserk and killing multiple soldiers holding him prisoner and villain slashes several throats, and it’s implied he beheads three men using his power to manipulate sand, plus lots of strong and light action violence includes stabbings, piercings, fighting, punching, kicking, energy blasts, character blasts things with red rays coming out from his eyes, lighting power strikes, martial arts, characters thrown against stationary objects, villain changes mutant’s wings into steel wings that enable him to throw steel feathers into opponents’ bodies, character thrown to floor during mental battle, characters knocked unconscious, mutant uses fire whip, little girl and her mother are accidently killed by an arrow as they’re embracing while being menaced and surrounded by angry men, one of the violent battles with Apocalypse takes place in the lead hero’s telepathic mind, and during a massive explosion a superfast character saves people’s lives while knocking debris away from them; no sex; brief upper male nudity; alcohol use; no smoking or drugs; and, characters are enslaved but are freed.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The film contrasts peace with hatred and revenge. What does Scripture say about overcoming evil without becoming evil ourselves?
Romans 12:17–21 · Matthew 5:44Prayer appears at important moments in the story. What does it mean to pray faithfully when danger or uncertainty comes?
Philippians 4:6–7 · Psalm 46:1–3Apocalypse wants to control every human mind. Why does God reject domination and call people to love and serve one another?
Mark 10:42–45 · Galatians 5:13The movie uses the language of God while also confusing true and false worship. How can we test spiritual claims against Scripture?
1 John 4:1 · Acts 17:11The Final Word
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE is compelling, entertaining, and unusually open about prayer, grace, and the victory of good over evil. Its violence, profanity, occult-like powers, and confused religious references make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For discerning adults, it is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For other family options, see.
