Over the Moon (2020)
Summary
Over the Moon is a 2020 Netflix original movie directed by Glen Keane. In it, the grieving Fei Fei builds a rocketship out of scraps in order to get to the moon and bring her father back proof of the moon goddess’ existence. Through a journey of determination, Fei Fei learns that true love may not be what she thought it was.
Assessment
Over the Moon is a high-quality animated film produced by Netflix. Focused around the Chinese Moon Festival, the movie blends science fiction and mythology in a quest for healing. Sitting on par with Disney movies such as Tangled and Frozen, this movie sits apart in its cultural focus, distinctive art style, and unique plot. The movie is also clean and free from cussing and adult themes or scenes.
Theologically, the movie is likely unsuitable for unsupervised children or those who might be influenced by some of its mythological elements. The movie centers around the Moon Festival, a traditional Chinese holiday which usually involves worship of the moon goddess, Chang’e; although no worship of Chang’e is seen on screen and most of the characters view her story a myth, not reality. In the movie, Chang’e does live on the moon and holds some power, but is not presented as an all-powerful or all-knowing god. Instead, she comes across as more of a minor deity who holds some sway over her realm, but can’t necessarily perform huge miracles or respond to prayers. Setting aside this, the movie holds a solid message of how to grieve, how to let go, and how to love like friends and family, which lines up with Biblical messages about love, healing, and reconciliation.
Light-o-Meter
Overall — 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Story: 5 out of 7 Little Lights
Voice Acting: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Animation: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Music: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Quality: 6 out of 7 Little Lights
Theological Message: N/A
Age Appropriateness — Appropriate for intended audience in terms of violence and adult content; possibly inappropriate due to theological content.
Talk
Alright, so, this has been a little bit of a trickier movie to navigate. On the one hand, it’s got some really, really good messages and a wonderfully written story about love of various kinds. On the other hand, it sort of has some isn’t-quite-but-can-kind-of-see-it-from-here idol worship and features what I would consider a “demi-god” (think Maui from Moana). So, with that, I’m going to throw a bunch of information and perspectives at you — the potential audience — and then you can let your conscious and convictions guide you in whether or not you watch this movie (it will be as spoiler-free as possible, but I will go into some of the meta of the story).
As an enjoyer of movies, not necessarily a media reviewer, I thought this movie was excellent. It was really well-written, had a plot that was simple, but with some cliche-breaking little twists that were refreshing. The animation was absolutely stellar and mirrored Disney without copying it. All of the wonderful shapes, textures, motions, and colors kept the movie really engaging and set a really good visual stage for the characters to act on. I also loved all of the characters; Fei Fei was adorable and her determination was really something to be admired. Chin was unexpectedly cute and loveable, and Chang’e was so incredibly elegant. To top it all off, the movie didn’t confine itself to only focusing on romantic love or, even, love between a parent and child like a lot of kids’ movies do. It brought in love between friends, love between a ruler and a people, and love between siblings all in really great ways. In all of these elements, this is definitely a movie I would recommend to just about any audience.
Where I have pause for the Christian audience, however, is in this pseudo-worship of Chang’e the moon goddess. The story is set up like a classic Western fairytale where the kid grew up believing in fairies, tragedy happened, the people around them stop believing, and then they go on a quest to find the fairies and change their life back to what it was previously. However, instead of fairies, it is a moon goddess. There is no on-screen worship of Chang’e and most of the characters have a more secular/athiest worldview, but there is an element of Fei Fei believing Chang’e exists and seeking her out to help. It’s not a reverent, prayerful kind of seeking so it’s not quite worship in my opinion; I don’t think they ever mention Chang’e accepting prayers or performing miracles either, so she’s not really set up like that kind of god, but it’s right on the edge. There was also a tiny hint towards reincarnation, but that was less pronounced.
For myself personally, this isn’t the kind of movie I would let impressionable kids watch without an adult present to reinforce the idea that it is a fun story with a lot of good morals, but we don’t worship Chang’e or any moon goddess. For the more mature or grounded-in-faith audience, this is a really good story with a lot to offer both in terms of masterful storytelling and in terms of the quality of the animation. If you are even the slightest bit hesitant about watching it, then I would say it is not worth even a second of stress in your life and there are plenty of other movies of this caliber to watch instead. As always, pray and seek the Holy Spirit’s wisdom or follow your own, God-given convictions as they lead!
Where to Enjoy
Over the Moon is currently streaming on Netflix!
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