Where the Wild Things Are
Directed by Spike Jonze
TheoScope Rating
Worldview · content · moral framework
Plot
A young boy named Max has an active imagination, and he will throw fits if others don't go along with what he wants. Max - following an incident with Claire (his sister) and her friends, and following a tantrum which he throws as a result of his Mother paying more attention to her boyfriend than to him - runs away from home. Wearing his wolf costume at the time, Max not only runs away physically, but runs toward a world in his imagination. This world, an ocean away, is inhabited by large wild beasts, including one named Carol who is much like Max himself in temperament. Instead of eating Max like they normally would with creatures of his type, the wild things befriend Max after he proclaims himself a king who can magically solve all their problems.
Discern Score Breakdown
30%
30%
25%
15%
Audience Suitability
Kids
Under 10
Teens
10–17
Adults
18+
Family
Mixed ages
Content Flags
Where the Wild Things Are is a moody, emotionally intelligent adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic picture book, aimed more at adults processing childhood than at children experiencing it fresh. Theologically thin but morally earnest, it serves best as a conversation starter about anger, belonging, and the limits of our desire to control others. Parents of sensitive younger children should preview it first.
Pastoral Take
Where the Wild Things Are is a thoughtful, melancholy film that is better suited to older children — ten and up — and to adults who appreciate emotionally layered storytelling. Parents of younger or more sensitive children should know this is not a lighthearted adventure; it is a quiet meditation on loneliness, anger, and the longing to be loved unconditionally, and some scenes carry genuine emotional weight that can unsettle little ones. There is real redemptive value here in the film's honest portrayal of how selfishness and rage hurt people we love, and in its gentle arc toward humility and reconciliation — themes worth discussing with your kids, even if the film never names the God who made us for exactly that kind of homecoming.
Discussion Points
- 1When Max tells the wild things he's a king with magical powers to keep the sadness away, he's making a promise he can't keep — and things fall apart because of it. Have you ever promised something you couldn't deliver because you wanted people to like you or need you? What do you think God says about honesty, even when the truth feels smaller than what people want to hear?
- 2Carol destroys the whole village he built with Max when he feels abandoned and betrayed — and Max has to watch something beautiful be ruined by someone's anger. Can you think of a time when your own anger — or someone else's — broke something that was hard to fix? What does the Bible say about anger, and how do you think God wants us to handle those feelings?
- 3At the end of the movie, Max comes home to his mom even though he ran away and was awful to her, and she's just relieved and happy he's back — she doesn't lecture him or punish him first. Does that remind you of any story Jesus told? What does that kind of love say about why Max — or any of us — would ever want to go back?
- 4The wild things wanted Max to be their king and fix everything for them, but he was just a kid who was lonely and pretending. Why do you think we sometimes look to other people — or even to kings or governments or leaders — to take away all our pain? Who does the Bible say is the only one who can actually do that?
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Cast
Max Records, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker
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