10 Lives
Summary
10 Lives is a British animated film by Chris Jenkins. Starring Mo Gilligan as a pampered housecat who just ran out of lives, this kids’ movie takes the audience on a redemptive adventure.
Assessment
10 Lives is a well-animated redemptive story about Beckett, a spoiled housecat who has run out of lives. Initiated into a special life extension program, Beckett is forced to confront his selfish ways and learn self-sacrifice. The animation style — including aesthetic, art style, and character expressiveness — is charming and slightly Disney-esque, if nothing new and exciting. The movie is also charming and funny, with quite a few bad puns and well-timed sass.
Despite being a secularly-produced movie, this story has a lot to offer the Christian audience. While there is a lot of fiction surrounding how Heaven works — the movie does use a literal take on “9 lives”; cats who have used a life go to a DMV-style waiting room to be processed for their next life — it also presents a positive view on God’s sovereignty. On top of this, Beckett’s story is one of him learning to be selfless and self-sacrificial; a redemption arc that demonstrates the process of sanctification in a very clear, non-linear way.
In terms of cleanliness, the movie does handle some emotionally intense topics that might upset young or sensitive children, including missing pets and pet death. It handles these things very delicately and in an age-appropriate way, but it also doesn’t shy away from them. There is some slightly crude humor and the male lead does end up showing his underwear several times (in comedic situations). There is a slight romantic thread, but it goes no farther than a kiss. There is also a lot of action and fighting, but zero gore and most is presented comedically.
Light-o-Meter
Overall — 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Story: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Voice Acting: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Animation: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Music: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Quality: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Theological Message: N/A
Age Appropriateness — Some of the themes and scenes may be a bit emotionally intense for younger or sensitive kids, but the action, humor, and romance are all age-appropriate.
Talk
This was absolutely adorable. It has a bit of a slow start, but then it really starts to pick up in terms of humor, heart, and plot.
I was initially concerned that it might take kind of a reincarnation route, but I actually found a lot of really, really good Christian threads running throughout it. While it obviously takes some silly liberties with how Heaven works for cats — DMV-style waiting room where they fill out paperwork for their next lives — I thought it was actually handled with a lot of respect for Christian traditions. They even managed to bring in God — not voiced or depicted except by a ray of light — and sort of demonstrate His authority over creation.
I think the most easily grasped message from this film is definitely the consequences of selfishness. Even with his new lease on life, Beckett still makes some really selfish decisions that hurt those around him. It’s very much a process that really echoes the non-linear Christian sanctification journey. Without spoilers, Beckett has to trudge through multiple trails in order to learn how to be selfless and appreciate the life he had with Rose, his owner. It’s not a supremely linear process; sometimes Beckett picks up on a lesson quickly, sometimes he picks up on the wrong lesson, and sometimes it takes a few tries for the lesson to sink in. Just like how God teaches us to become more like Jesus over our lifetimes. In my opinion, I think this would be an amazing tool to help kids understand that process in an easy-to-digest kind of way.
The only things I might mention on the negative side are a little bit of crude humor — not much, just a tiny bit — and a lot of fairly heart wrenching moments. I am definitely not the kind of person who thinks that kids need to be shielded from all negative emotions, and I think for the most part this movie is pretty well-balanced for the audience’s age, but parents of very sensitive kids might want to prescreen it.