ISLE OF DOGS
An adorable, morally serious dog adventure with quirky edges.
Should You Watch It?
Here is the decision. Isle of Dogs is a funny, often adorable animated comedy with a strong moral heart. It extols kindness and truth, rebukes tyranny and evil, acknowledges God, and asks people to pray for endangered characters. Its stop-motion animation, settings, and art direction are visually rich.
The movie also has costs. It contains three obscenities, some strong violence, lots of jeopardy, a kidney transplant operation, brief nudity, and light discussion about dogs mating. Its humor can be dry, and its quirkiness will not work for every child.
So, if your family includes middle schoolers and older children who can handle those concerns, this is worth seeing. For younger children, use your discernment or choose something gentler.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESTwenty years in the future, most dogs in Japan have developed dog flu. To protect people, the cat-loving mayor of Megasaki exiles every dog to Trash Island, a huge landfill.
When 12-year-old Atari’s guard dog, Spots, is sent away, Atari flies to the island to rescue him. A group of mostly friendly dogs joins Atari in the search, which leads them into a larger conflict involving the mayor and the fate of every dog in Japan.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means this is a good film with memorable strengths and some quirks that limit it. The movie has many funny, adorable, and exciting moments. Its stop-motion animation, settings, and art direction are visually rich.
Wes Anderson’s writing and direction produce clever, interesting dialogue, though some of it is dry. The story’s four-chapter structure, prologue, and brief flashbacks slow the plot, while the movie’s unusual characters and humor can sometimes feel overly quirky. Still, the adventure is often a joy to watch.
The Worldview
Isle of Dogs presents a strong moral worldview with redemptive elements. It extols kindness and truth while rebuking tyranny and evil. God is acknowledged in one piece of dialogue, and people are asked to pray for two characters on the verge of death. The request is general and does not name a particular religion.
The film also presents repentance and reconciliation. One villain realizes the wrong he has done, reconciles with a family member he wronged, and tries to make amends. The story opposes the abuse of power and celebrates people who stand up for the vulnerable.
The film’s central moral longing is for kindness, truth, and reconciliation in the face of cruelty. Scripture likewise calls us to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Strong moral worldview with some redemptive elements includes kindness and truth are extolled, there’s a positive acknowledgement of God, people are asked to pray for two characters on the verge of death (it’s a general call to prayer so it leaves open the possibility of Non-Christian prayer but no specific religion is mentioned in the movie, Christian or Non-Christian), evil and tyranny are rebuked, and two family members (one good and one bad) reconcile with one another as the bad family member realizes he did wrong, repents and tries to make up for what he did
Foul Language
Three obscenities (two “d” words and an SOB), plus a shot of some maggots on a piece of food in a landfill and part of an island looks like human fingers and the cartoon dogs exiled to the island call them “the middle fingers”
Violence
Strong and light violence and lots of jeopardy includes one scene features a cartoon depiction of a somewhat bloody kidney transplant operation, a character is poisoned to death, villains try to wipe out all dogs in Japan by euthanizing them, dogs accuse other dogs of cannibalism, but the accused dogs say they only killed a dying wounded dog to put him “out of his misery” and then ate him because they were starving to death and would have died otherwise, talk about experimenting on dogs but rebuked, dogs ride a cart into a pulverizing and incineration facility, but the facility isn’t working well so they aren’t hurt, threats of violence and death, some fighting between characters takes place in a cloud of dust (like an old cartoon), vicious looking robot dogs, one dog has a slightly bloody bandage over his eye and later it’s shown that he now has a bionic eye, there’s a sad scene where dogs and boy see the bones of a dog in a cage where the dog couldn’t escape the cage and died of starvation and thirst, a scene of grief, etc.
Sex
No sex but some talk about dogs mating with other dogs and one case where one male dog and his mate have puppies, but they are a family in a biblical manner
Nudity
Upper male nudity and rear male nudity when villain gets out of a tub before his servants can cover him with a robe
Alcohol Use
No alcohol use
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or drugs;
Miscellaneous Immorality
Light miscellaneous immorality includes evil mayor and his minions hatch an evil secret plot against pet dogs, but they are opposed by the good guys, girl trying to expose the conspiracy says she hates the evil mayor, one dog admits he likes to gossip, and villains lie, but the good guys successfully expose their lies eventually.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The film sets kindness and truth against tyranny and deception. Where do you see those virtues tested in your own life?
Micah 6:8 · Ephesians 4:25People are asked to pray for characters in danger. What does it mean to bring urgent needs to God?
Philippians 4:6–7 · James 5:16One character realizes he has done wrong and tries to make amends. How are repentance and reconciliation connected?
2 Corinthians 7:10 · Matthew 5:23–24The story asks you to care for vulnerable creatures and people. How does Scripture describe our responsibility toward what God has made?
Proverbs 12:10 · Genesis 1:26–28The Final Word
Isle of Dogs is a funny, visually rich adventure that celebrates kindness, prayer, truth, and reconciliation. Its three obscenities, violence, jeopardy, nudity, and quirky humor call for parental discernment with younger children. For older children and adults, the answer is WORTH THE TRIP — MIDDLE SCHOOL AND UP.
