IN A BETTER WORLD
A morally serious Danish drama—powerful, troubling, and for adults only.
Should You Watch It?
Here is a powerful, morally serious drama about bullying, revenge, and justice. Its redemptive themes are strong, especially its positive parental role models and its thoughtful attention to forgiveness, human evil, and the limits of human justice. Anton, the doctor at its center, is especially admirable.
The cost is substantial. The movie includes graphic images of wounds, gruesome violence in Africa, plenty of strong foul language, and disturbing choices made by young boys. Its moral answers are redemptive, but they are also provocative and unsettling, particularly when the story considers whether violent punishment can ever answer truly evil acts.
If you are a discerning adult who can engage those disturbing elements thoughtfully, this is worth seeing. For children and young teens, choose something else.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESAnton is a doctor who works part-time with poor refugees in Africa. During his work, he learns about a brutal warlord whose cruelty has left deep wounds.
Back home in Denmark, Anton’s 10-year-old son, Elias, is bullied at school. Elias finds an unexpected defender in Christian, a new boy grieving his mother’s death from cancer. The boys form a strong bond, but Christian’s anger draws them toward a dangerous confrontation with bullying and revenge.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is a first-rate, emotionally powerful drama. The story says profound things about the human condition, especially when people face bullying, brutal violence, revenge, and true evil. Its redemptive themes and positive parental role models give the film a strong moral center.
The movie is thoughtful and provocative rather than simple. It raises difficult questions about pacifism, justice, and the imperfect decisions people make when confronting brutality. The source compares it favorably with many dramas while noting that it is not quite as good or powerful as Departures.
The Worldview
The film presents a thoughtful, strongly moral, redemptive look at bullying, violence, revenge, justice, and forgiveness. It shows that Christian learns it is possible to go too far, while Anton learns that pacifist answers do not necessarily help either a bully or his victims. The movie also argues that justice carried out by humans is seldom perfect.
Its redemptive answers align with biblical concern for justice, forgiveness, moral courage, and care for vulnerable people. But its treatment of violent punishment remains ambiguous and unsettling. A brief Christian funeral appears, while the story ultimately leaves viewers thinking carefully about what to do when confronted by evil, arrogance, and brutality.
The film’s longing for a better world meets Scripture’s call 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.
Content Summary
Light redemptive worldview presents a thoughtful, strongly moral, redemptive look at bullying, violence, revenge, justice, and forgiveness, including a brief scene at a Christian funeral; 25 obscenities (including 12 “f” words) and one strong profanity; some extreme images of bloody wounds on people in Africa (including women who undergo surgery after their babies have been ripped from their bellies) and strong violence such as a mostly implied execution scene by being beaten, pipe bomb goes off, boy gets injured trying to save a mother and her daughter, young bully threatened with knife, school bullies have punctured other children’s bicycle tires, boy plots revenge with his friend, threats, and some fighting; implied sex between estranged married couple; upper male nudity; alcohol use; smoking; and, revenge, vigilante justice occurs in one scene, but it’s carried out in a biblical manner by the victims of the murderous violence, boy angry at father for mother’s untimely death but he’s confused, boys cover up rule-breaking, lying, woman gets angry at boy for involving her son in a very foolish act but the relationship is healed later, and married couple are separated but man wants to get back together with his wife.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The film asks whether pacifism always helps victims of bullying. How should Christians pursue justice without becoming vengeful?
Romans 12:19 · Micah 6:8Christian’s anger leads him toward revenge. What is the difference between righteous concern about evil and sinful retaliation?
James 1:19–20 · Ephesians 4:26–27Anton serves poor refugees as a doctor. What does Scripture require of us when vulnerable people are suffering?
Proverbs 31:8–9 · Matthew 25:35–40The story offers forgiveness and healing alongside justice. What does biblical forgiveness involve, and how does it differ from pretending wrong never happened?
Colossians 3:13 · Ephesians 4:32The Final Word
IN A BETTER WORLD is a powerful, redemptive drama that takes bullying and human evil seriously. Its strong language, gruesome violence, and disturbing treatment of revenge make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For discerning adults, it is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY.
