Hacksaw Ridge
Directed by Mel Gibson
TheoScope Rating
Worldview · content · moral framework
Plot
The true story of Desmond T. Doss, the conscientious objector who, after the Battle of Okinawa, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his incredible bravery and regard for his fellow soldiers. Following his upbringing and how this shaped his views (especially his religious view and anti-killing stance), Doss's trials and tribulations after enlisting in the US Army (trying to become a medic) begin, preluding the hell on Earth that was Hacksaw Ridge.
Discern Score Breakdown
30%
30%
25%
15%
Audience Suitability
Kids
Under 10
Teens
10–17
Adults
18+
Family
Mixed ages
Content Flags
Hacksaw Ridge is a landmark of explicitly Christian filmmaking inside the Hollywood mainstream — a true story of faith, conscience, and miraculous courage that treats the gospel of nonviolence and divine conviction with full seriousness. The theological and moral scores are among the highest a war film can earn, but the graphic combat violence is genuinely severe and not suitable for younger or sensitive viewers. Adults and older teenagers who can process the intensity of the battlefield sequences will encounter one of the most powerful portrayals of Christian conviction in recent cinema.
Pastoral Take
This film is not for children and should be carefully considered even for teenagers — the combat violence is genuinely brutal and parents should watch it before deciding whether a teen in their home is ready for it, with 16 or 17 being a reasonable minimum for most young people. That said, for adults and mature older teens, Hacksaw Ridge is one of the most powerful affirmations of Christian faith and conscientious conviction ever produced at the Hollywood level, and the discomfort of the violence is in service of a story that honors God, human dignity, and sacrificial courage. Parents who watch it with older teenagers will find it opens rich conversations about faith under pressure, what it means to obey God rather than men, and whether a person's deepest convictions are worth suffering for.
Discussion Points
- 1Desmond refuses to pick up a rifle even when it would have made his own survival easier, and he keeps asking God to help him save 'just one more' soldier. Why do you think his faith gave him more courage than the armed soldiers around him — and do you think God actually answered those prayers? What does that tell us about what prayer is for?
- 2At the beginning of the film, Desmond's father is a violent, broken man — but near the end he uses his own military status to help free Desmond from prison. The Bible talks about God redeeming people's past for His purposes — do you see that happening with Tom Doss, and what does it say about whether someone is ever too far gone to be used by God?
- 3The other soldiers and even his commanding officers thought Desmond's convictions were crazy and even dangerous to the unit — but they were wrong. When have you ever felt pressured to give up on something you believed was right because other people thought it was foolish? How did Desmond decide whose opinion mattered most?
- 4Sergeant Howell spends most of the film making Desmond's life miserable, but by the end he tells Desmond he's afraid to go back up the ridge without him praying first. What changed? And what does it tell us about how God can use a person's faithfulness to change the hearts of people who seem hardest against them?
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Cast
Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey
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