It's a Wonderful Life
Acceptable with guidance. Age: 13+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
George Bailey gives up his own dreams again and again to help his family and his town. One Christmas Eve he is in big money trouble and thinks everyone would be better off without him. He prays, and an angel named Clarence shows him what the town would be like if he had never been born. George learns that his life is a gift and that he has helped many people. Some parts are dark and scary, like when George wants to die and when he yells at his family. It is best for older kids and teens watching with their parents. This is one of the great films about a hidden, sacrificial life, and the Vatican put it on its 1995 list under Values. Prayer sets the whole story moving, and George's own prayer on the bridge is answered. Correct one thing for your children: Clarence is a dead man who became an angel, and that is not what the Church teaches. The suicide theme and George's rage at home make this a film to watch together, not hand over.
For parents
Teens and up per the USCCB classification. Common Sense Media says nine plus, and many Catholic families watch it together younger. Preview the bridge scene and George's outburst at home for sensitive children. Correct the angel story: people do not become angels. Angels are pure spirits God created as angels (CCC 328-330). The faithful departed become saints, and each of us already has a guardian angel (CCC 336). Nobody earns wings. On George's despair: life is God's gift and we are its stewards, not its owners (CCC 2280). Ask: who prayed for George, and how was his prayer answered? What small sacrifices made his life great?