Hocus Pocus
Directed by Kenny Ortega
TheoScope Rating
Worldview · content · moral framework
Plot
300 years have passed since the Sanderson sisters were executed for practicing dark witchcraft. Returning to life thanks to a combination of a spell spoken before their demise and the accidental actions of Max, the new-kid-in-town, the sisters have but one night to secure their continuing existence...
Discern Score Breakdown
30%
30%
25%
15%
Audience Suitability
Kids
Under 10
Teens
10–17
Adults
18+
Family
Mixed ages
Content Flags
Hocus Pocus is a beloved Halloween-season comedy that has achieved significant cultural staying power, but from a Christian perspective it normalizes occult themes — witchcraft, necromancy, soul-stealing — in a way that warrants serious parental consideration, particularly for young children. It is not a film that mocks Christianity or celebrates evil in an ideological sense, but its cheerful aesthetic treatment of dark spiritual content makes it theologically shallow and potentially spiritually confusing for impressionable viewers. Families who choose to watch it together should go in with eyes open and conversation ready.
Pastoral Take
Parents, Hocus Pocus is not a malicious film — it's a silly, well-intentioned Halloween comedy — but its casual and sustained use of witchcraft, soul-draining rituals, and occult imagery as cheerful entertainment makes it a genuine concern, especially for children under 10 who may not yet have the discernment to separate 'movie fun' from spiritually serious territory. If you watch it with older kids or teens, use it as a conversation starter about what the Bible actually says about the occult and why God warns against it — not to frighten, but to build the kind of discernment that lasts. For younger children or families who prefer to err on the side of caution, there are Halloween-season films with far less occult freight that accomplish the same cozy, festive goal.
Discussion Points
- 1At the end of the movie, the Sanderson sisters are finally destroyed when sunlight hits them — their own evil ultimately catches up with them. The Bible says in Galatians 6:7 that 'God cannot be mocked — a man reaps what he sows.' Do you think the witches' ending fits that idea? Can you think of other times in the Bible or in real life where that principle showed up?
- 2The witches in this movie are played as funny and silly, even though they were actually trying to kill children. Do you think making evil look funny or harmless can ever be dangerous? What does it mean that the Bible calls Satan 'an angel of light' — someone who disguises evil as something appealing?
- 3Max didn't believe in witches or anything supernatural at the beginning of the film — he thought it was all superstition. After everything he experienced, how do you think his view changed? What do you think is the difference between healthy skepticism and refusing to believe in things that are real — including spiritual things the Bible talks about?
- 4The movie uses a cross to temporarily scare away the witches, but it doesn't actually work in the end. In real life, Christians believe the cross represents something far more powerful than a magic symbol. What do you think the cross actually means, and why is it powerful in Christian faith — not as a charm, but as a real historical event?
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Cast
Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy
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