King of Kings, The

Story

While Charles Dickens (voice of Kenneth Branagh) is reading his book A Christmas Carol to an audience, he’s interrupted by his son Walter (voice of Roman Griffin Davis). Walter is pretending to be King Arthur along with family cat Willa. Charles shouts at Walter and sends him home so he can finish the performance without further disturbance.

When he arrives home, Charles is convinced by his wife Catherine (voice of Uma Thurman) to tell Walter the story of the mightiest king of all, Jesus Christ (voice of Oscar Isaac).

Through Charles’ storytelling and Walter’s eyes, this movie explores many key events of the New Testament, including the birth of Christ, the journey to Egypt, the feeding of the 5000, the walk on water, and the resurrection of Lazarus. It also presents the fear and hatred of the Pharisees and their role in the crucifixion of Jesus.

In the end, Walter realises the love and power of Christ and excitedly leaves to pass on the story of the King of Kings.

Themes

Death; natural disasters; conflict

Violence

The King of Kings has some violence. For example:

Walter points his wooden toy sword at Charles after he refers to their cat as Willa (its actual name) instead of as a Knight of the Round Table.
King Herod says he’ll kill every child under 2 years in Bethlehem to ensure he captures Jesus. Roman soldiers arrive at the stable to take Jesus, but God sends down a fog that allows the family to escape. These scenes refer to ‘The massacre of the innocents’.
In scenes showing ‘The ten plagues of Egypt’, the blood of lambs is smeared onto doorposts.
There’s a vivid depiction of Jesus’s 40-day fast. Satan creates a tornado and throws stones through the air while trying to tempt Jesus to sin.
In scenes showing ‘The exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac’, a demon is removed from a man and runs into a herd of swine, who subsequently run off a cliff into water and drown.
In scenes showing ‘Jesus and the woman caught in adultery’, a woman accused of adultery is brought to Jesus by the Pharisees. They claim she should be stoned for violating one of the 10 Commandments (‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife’). Jesus settles the crowd by stating that whoever is free of sin should cast the first stone. People realise that they’re not free of sin and leave.
Charles is shoved, his hand is stood on, and he is hit by a basket while searching for Willa the cat.
In scenes showing ‘The cleansing of the temple’, Jesus and his disciples travel to a temple for Passover. Jesus is angry about the market set up under the temple. He flips a table and shouts for the market to be disbanded.
In scenes showing ‘The betrayal of Christ’, Judas leads the Roman soldiers to Jesus. One of Jesus’s disciples steals a sword and slashes an ear off one of the soldiers.
In scenes showing ‘The crucifixion of Jesus’, Jesus is nailed to the cross, although no blood is shown. Likewise, when the Crown of Thorns is placed on Jesus’s head, no blood is shown.

Sexual references

The King of Kings has some sexual references. For example:

A woman is accused of adultery.
Judas kisses Jesus on the cheek.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

The King of Kings shows some use of substances. For example, the disciples drink wine (the blood of Christ) at the Last Supper.

Nudity and sexual activity

The King of Kings shows some nudity and sexual activity. For example, Adam and Eve are shown nude, but their genitals are covered by nearby plants.

Product placement

There’s no product placement in The King of Kings.

Coarse language

There is some mild coarse language in The King of Kings, including ‘gosh’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

The King of Kings is an animated movie based on The Life of Our Lord by Charles Dickens, a novel Dickens wrote for his children about Jesus.

Because of its mild violence and scary scenes, The King of Kings is best suited to children aged 10 years and over. We also recommend parental guidance for children aged 7-9 years.

The main messages from The King of Kings are biblical. The movie emphasises the power of God and the love of Jesus Christ and suggests that people can be saved by faith. It also maintains the importance of loving and forgiving family.

Values in The King of Kings that you could reinforce with your children include religion, Christianity, forgiveness, unity and kindness.

The King of Kings could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life questions and issues. For example, during the ‘Cleansing of the Temple’, a Pharisee tells a market stand operator to charge more, because buyers will still pay. You could talk about commercial ethics and exploitation.