10 and older:
“Miracles from Heaven” (PG): Soft-hearted kids 10 and older, whether they’re from religious families or not, will react emotionally to this story of a dying little girl who gets well as a result of what she and her parents believe is a miracle. Hollywood is taking faith-based films seriously now, and the acting and production values show it. The Beams are a fun family, with three daughters and lots of pets, living on a beautiful piece of land in Texas. They are devout Christians who declare their faith openly and often. Christy Wilson Beam’s 2015 memoir of the same name inspired the film. Her middle daughter, Anna, became ill at age 10 with pseudo-obstruction motility disorder, which, as the book explains, makes it “impossible for her little body to process food or even water in the normal way.” Anna is in pain with a bloated belly, yet wasting away. With her devoted mom (Jennifer Garner), she visits a specialist in Boston, where a kind waitress played by Queen Latifah befriends them. But Anna gets worse. Then a near-fatal backyard climbing accident seems to cure Anna. She says she went to heaven and talked to God. Accept that or not, this is a moving tale of familial love. (109 minutes)
THE BOTTOM LINE: Scenes showing Anna sick and in pain, her stomach swollen, frantic moments in an emergency room, and tubes pushed up her nose and into her stomach could upset children younger than 10 and some older, so parents must consider what their kids can handle. Characters’ discussion of faith in and out of church will feel familiar to many children, but unusual to those whose families worship differently or not at all.
PG-13:
“The Divergent Series: Allegiant”: This is the first half of a planned two-part finale for the “Divergent” series, based on the young-adult trilogy by Veronica Roth. Alas, much like the second film, “Insurgent,” this installment is disappointing in its gracelessness, intensified violence and occasional flat-out dullness. It also does a poor job, unlike the (better) “Hunger Games” series, of helping newcomers catch up with the plot. The mayhem is too graphic for preteens and even some middle-schoolers, but most teens, if they love the books, will find some satisfaction in it. A post-revolutionary reign of terror has begun under Evelyn (Naomi Watts), the new leader in the blasted landscape that was Chicago, with show trials, mob justice and a point-blank execution. The trilogy’s heroine, Tris (Shailene Woodley), disapproves of Evelyn’s tactics, although Evelyn is also the mother of Tris’s love and fellow insurgent, Four (Theo James). Tris, Four and their sometime allies, Tris’s brother, Caleb (Ansel Elgort), and the out-for-himself conniver Peter (Miles Teller), escape Evelyn’s paramilitary in a hail of bullets and go over the wall to see what’s there. They find the Bureau of Genetic Welfare, run by David (Jeff Daniels), who tells them that humanity was nearly destroyed by genetic modifications, which he is trying to fix. When he tells Tris that she is the only “genetically pure” human left and all others are “damaged,” they start to doubt his motives. (121 minutes)
THE BOTTOM LINE: There is not a lot of blood, but the violence — point-blank killings, pitched gun battles and bone-cracking fights — has a more intense feel to it than in the earlier films. The executions, while not graphic, are truly disturbing, as is the talk of genetic “purity.” Apart from a couple of kisses between Tris and Four, there is no sexual innuendo.
“10 Cloverfield Lane”: Three-quarters kitchen-sink-drama-with-hostage, and barely one-quarter sci-fi freak-out, “10 Cloverfield Lane” kind of works for a while, until it just doesn’t. The fine cast can’t salvage the plot’s half-baked recipe. It’s certainly okay for high-schoolers and for some middle-schoolers, unless they’re squeamish about even understated horror. Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a distraught young woman, walks out on her unseen boyfriend and hits the road. Newscasts report mysterious power outages. A sudden crash, and Michelle wakes up on a mattress in a cinder-block room, chained to a wall, with an IV drip in her arm. Howard (John Goodman, having a fine time) is both her rescuer and jailer in his survivalist bunker. He tells her there’s been an attack, but he’s not sure whether it’s chemical, nuclear or alien. Either way, Michelle, Howard, and Howard’s farmhand, Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), must stay in the bunker for a year, at least. Michelle believes none of it and tries to escape, but something occurs that convinces her. The three settle into a routine until something else happens that changes everything. (103 minutes)
THE BOTTOM LINE: Scenes of violence and sci-fi horror stay well within PG-13 range, although they are unsettling. They include: a point-blank gun death, with the victim just out of camera range; characters’ skin dissolving after a dousing of acid; fights and attempted stabbings. There are verbal hints that one character may have murdered a child. There is rare crude language, one F-word, and almost no sexual innuendo.
Horwitz has been reviewing movies for Washington-area media outlets including The Washington Post and WETA public television since 1988. The Family Filmgoer column offers weekly movie reviews with a focus on family, an invaluable tool for parents planning trips to the theater.