Les Misérables
Acceptable with guidance. Age: 13+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
The bishop's mercy at the start is one of the best pictures of grace on film. He buys a thief's soul back for God, and everything good Valjean does flows from it. Law without mercy destroys Javert. The reservation: this version stops at Javert's suicide and cuts Valjean's holy death, and Fantine's fall into prostitution is plain.
For parents
For teens fourteen and up with a parent. Preview Fantine's scenes and the barricade. Talk about Javert's end: despair is never the answer, and mercy was offered to him too. Ask: what did the bishop really give Valjean? Why can Javert not accept mercy?