Common Sense Media Review
By Stephanie Myers
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Uneven biblical drama about Abraham and Isaac; violence.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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His Only Son
What's the Story?
HIS ONLY SON is a fictionalized account of the biblical story of Abraham's (Nicolas Mouwed) journey to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, as an offering to God (Daniel da Silva). In the film, God tells Abraham to go to Moriah, where he must sacrifice Isaac (Edaan Moskowitz) as a burnt offering. Abraham tells his wife, Sarah (Sara Seyed), that God spoke to him and that he'll be going on a three-day journey and taking Isaac with him, as well as two servants. Through flashbacks, viewers learn about the first time that God spoke to Abraham, telling him to move to a new land. During the flashbacks, Sarah isn't sure about Abraham's choices -- or that listening to God is the right thing for them and their families. Since infertility has prevented her from becoming a mother, she starts to lose faith that she will be the one to birth Abraham's heir. Out of sadness and desperation, she offers her maid to Abraham to help fulfill God's prophecy of Abraham's offspring being multiple and creating nations. Back in the movie's present, Abraham is having nightmares and feeling conflicted about his upcoming sacrifice. If he can make it through the remaining trials of his journey, will Abraham be obedient to God and sacrifice his only son?
Is It Any Good?
This faith-based drama -- a loose adaptation of a story from the Bible's book of Genesis -- feels disjointed. That's largely due to the many flashbacks showing Abraham and Sarah's struggle to conceive a child and stay faithful to God. Instead of showing a linear progression from Isaac's birth leading up to where the movie begins, His Only Son focuses more on the fictionalized account of Abraham's three-day journey to Moriah and what might have happened between Abraham and his companions along the way. While the movie tries to demonstrate how obedience and faith will lead to blessings through Abraham's willingness to trust in God, it doesn't go deeply enough into why Abraham has this faith and belief. This is compounded by Sarah continually being pessimistic and crying in most of her scenes about how God hasn't really kept his promises. Still, even though it's not completely accurate to the original biblical story, families who enjoy faith-based movies are likely to enjoy it.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how His Only Son depicts faith and belief. Do faith and belief impact your decisions? How does Abraham's faith and belief in God's promises affect the way he lives his life?
Talk about the movie's violence. Is it necessary to the story? Can you think of other ways the story could have been told effectively?
Isaac was willing to trade his life for that of the kidnapped woman. Was that courageous? Should he have listened to his father and stayed out of it?
One of Abraham's servants says that Abraham places blame quickly and believes a group of people is capable of doing bad things based on a previous experience. How does Abraham respond? Do you agree with his response? Do you see examples of this happening with groups of people today?
Abraham is accused of giving himself license to do whatever he wants -- and enslaving whomever he wishes -- as long as he can say "the Lord says." What do you think about Abraham's response to this?
Movie Details
- In theaters : March 31, 2023
- On DVD or streaming : May 5, 2023
- Cast : Nicolas Mouawad , Sara Seyed , Daniel da Silva , Edaan Moskowitz
- Director : David Helling
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Middle Eastern/North African Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Angel Studios
- Genre : Drama
- Character Strengths : Courage
- Run time : 101 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : thematic content and some violence
- Last updated : September 26, 2024
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