It’s been a minute since kids really got a good movie about Jesus. The Star was the last attempt in 2017, and that was really bad. But Angel Studios has been on a heater since Sound of Freedom in 2023, so they took a shot with The King of Kings. The result: another winner for their audience, especially kids, who can learn about Jesus’s teachings, and parents, who can use this as a stand in for Sunday School, a win win for everyone!
Seong-ho Jang’s movie doesn’t start with Jesus, it starts with…A Christmas Carol? Yes, the framing device here is Charles Dickens (Kenneth Branagh) telling that tale on stage, and his young son Walter (Roman Griffin Davis) keeps interrupting the production pretending he is King Arthur. Dickens gets upset and snaps at his son, taking away his toy sword. Charles’s wife Catherine (Uma Thurman) asks her husband to “spin his magic” and tell Walter a story before he goes to bed. Charles decides it’s time to unveil his latest manuscript to his kids: the story of Jesus (Oscar Isaac), the king of kings, because Walter only wants to hear a story about a king.
The King of Kings gives us the G rated version of Jesus’s tale. It’s a lot of headlines, using quotes from the bible, then jumping around to give kids the gist of who this guy was and why people thought he was the king of kings. The Jesus we see is mostly a miracle worker, helping the helpless and sinners get over their aliments and become believers in God. We’re trying to tell a story for kids right? So watching Jesus walk on water during a scary seastorm is how you keep those kids glued to their seats. The movies teases some really scary stuff while never going into full nightmare: we see the spirits entering pigs, which hurl themselves off cliffs, and glimpses of the devil during Jesus’s spiritual battle with him in the desert. We even almost see hammers of nails into his hands as he’s put on the cross. It’s a lovely intro for the curious child: I particularly got teary during the Mary Magdalene section, watching the fear on her face slowly be replaced by gratitude as Jesus convinces the masses to put down their stones. Conspicuously absent is the Sermon on the Mount’s teachings; hard to teach about a spiritual life over a worldly one when you’re trying to make bank with your movie I guess.
The reason The King of Kings works though it its story within a story gimmick. This allows the movie agency to insert either Charles or Walter into a scene, e.g. one of the kids in the audience. At various times, we see Walter there, trying to understand what is going on using his imagination, and Charles not far behind explains why say the Pharisees didn’t particularly like Jesus, or follow Peter (Forest Whitaker) during his various crises of faith. Seong-ho Jang smartly makes Walter be Jesus at times, or Charles, to help drive home the point for the kids out there, to empathize with his incredible trailblazing ideas of love, spirituality, and tolerance above all else. Kids hopefully come out inspired by what they saw, hopefully taking those lessons to heart and being better kids as a result.
As much as I’d rather watch the unintentional humor of The Ten Commandments every Easter, sometimes we could use something fresh. The King of Kings is a nice palate cleanser and prep for the holiday. Parents can use this as a fun, new way to teach about the Lord and why they worship him. And while they’re at it, maybe learn a little about Charles Dickens too? The King of Kings on Easter…A Muppet Christmas Carol for the Yuletide. I’m on board!