THE BOOK OF LIFE
Entertaining animation with serious spiritual repercussions — adults only.
Should You Watch It?
Here is the tension. The Book of Life is genuinely entertaining. Its animation is unique and creative, its humor is funny, and modern songs help bring energy to the folktale. The film also offers strong moral messages about loving, defending, and fighting for others, even through self-sacrifice.
But those virtues are built into a spiritual framework that conflicts with the Gospel. The story teaches that the dead’s destiny depends on whether people on earth remember them, while Scripture teaches that eternal life comes through Jesus Christ. Occult spirits, the Land of the Remembered, and the Land of the Forgotten are not harmless decoration.
Adults may find worthwhile themes here while rejecting the movie’s theology. Children and young teens should not be given this as a family-friendly introduction to Mexican culture or death. For discerning adults, the answer is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESDuring a museum field trip, children hear the story of Manolo Sanchez, a young boy who dreams of becoming a musician even though his family expects him to pursue bullfighting.
Manolo loves Maria, but he must compete with Joaquin, a strong and courageous young man. When Maria is sent away to a convent school, the two boys wait for her return. Meanwhile, two spirits make a bet over which boy Maria will choose, setting the young people’s love story inside a larger struggle between rival realms of the dead.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this movie delivers excellent entertainment, even though its worldview creates serious problems. The animation is unique and creative, and the humor is funny. Modern songs give the folktale added energy, while the voice cast brings hilarious moments to the characters.
The film also makes its moral ideas accessible. Its statement that “To be a true hero, you have to be selfless” is reflected in characters who learn to love, defend, and fight for one another. The movie’s craft and redemptive messages are strong enough to make the spiritual errors especially important to address.
The Worldview
The film presents the Day of the Dead as a central cultural framework, but its treatment blends Spanish Catholic beliefs with indigenous occult paganism and false theology. The dead are divided between a festive Land of the Remembered and a dreadful Land of the Forgotten. Whether someone remains present after death depends on whether people on earth remember that person.
That teaching is false biblically. The afterlife does not depend on the memories of those still living. Eternal life is God’s gift to each person who believes in Jesus Christ. The movie also includes spirits, prayer to dead ancestors, and other occult elements. Its Catholic imagery and Christian-sounding ideas do not correct the larger spiritual confusion.
The film does affirm selflessness, courage, love, defending others, and fighting evil. It also raises questions about Maria’s independent, feminist-like attitude and presents a contradictory message about violence: Manolo refuses to kill a bull in a bullfight but is willing to fight bandits and kill the bad guy. These moral strengths and inconsistencies sit within a worldview that departs sharply from biblical teaching.
The film’s longing for life beyond death points toward a question it cannot answer rightly. Jesus says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Strong syncretistic pagan worldview with strong occult elements and false theology mixed with biblical, moral, redemptive messages of selflessness and fighting evil and some overt Christian content includes light Christian platitudes, a church wedding, Catholic characters, crucifixes, but also some politically correct feminist attitudes and light environmentalism; no foul language, but light scatological jokes; light animated action violence includes characters that fight each other, some scary images of spirits and dead souls, a snake bites and poisons a man, many images of skulls, the bad guy is killed in an explosion; no sexual content, kiss at a wedding; no nudity; three characters are clearly drunk; no smoking; and, villain cheats.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The film says that a true hero must be selfless. What does Christian selflessness look like in your family and community?
Philippians 2:3–4 · Mark 10:45The story connects the dead person’s fate to whether people remember that person. What does the Bible teach about eternal life and where it comes from?
John 3:16 · John 3:36The characters are willing to fight and sacrifice for one another. When should Christians defend others, and how should they do so?
Proverbs 31:8–9 · Romans 12:17–21The movie mixes Christian images with pagan and occult ideas. How can you recognize the difference between biblical truth and spiritual ideas that merely sound religious?
Acts 17:22–31 · 1 John 4:1The Final Word
The Book of Life is creative, funny, and morally engaging. But its teaching about the dead and the afterlife conflicts with the Gospel and is surrounded by occult elements. Discerning adults may find worthwhile ideas here; children and young teens should choose something else. The final answer is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For safer family viewing, see.
