christian movie reviews the creator

The Creator (Christian Movie Review) 

Verdict: Gorgeous visuals, exciting action, and some engaging themes make this one of the most immersive and inventive films of the year.

About The Movie

The Creator is a counterpoint to the audiences who bemoan the lack of originality in Hollywood amongst the vast sea of superhero flicks and endless sequels. The film is helmed by Director Gareth Edwards, his first movie since 2016’s Rogue One: A Star War Story . The original science-fiction story depicts a war between humans and AI in the not-so-distant future. The concept of “fighting the threat of AI” is far from novel at this point, but Edwards manages to take the familiar concept and weave it into something fresh. The Creator is one of the most immersive and inventive films of the year.   

Despite a more modest budget than many other high-concept blockbusters, the film looks visually impressive. The cinematography is excellent with some truly stunning and well framed shots. The design elements—from the AI simulants to the ominous Death Star-like weapon called Nomad—are instantly memorable and effective. The worldbuilding is equally as engrossing, with a show-don’t-tell approach that offers visual cues without ever getting bogged down in long-winded explanations or technicalities. The futuristic world feels authentic and “lived-in” rather than just a glossy, green-screened CGI backdrop for the action. I got some strong Blade Runner and District 9 vibes, particularly in the more cosmopolitan set pieces.  

Gareth Edwards takes a similar approach as he did with both his 2014 Godzilla movie and his indie debut Monsters (2010) by keeping the action “grounded” and focusing the story on the perspective of the characters, rather than getting lost in the larger global scope and spectacle of the Humans vs AI war. John David Washington is suburb in the lead role, as is Madeleine Yuna Voyles (in her first on-screen role, no less) as a child AI simulant and alleged “super weapon.” The relational dynamic between these two characters infuses the story with a lot of heart and emotional stakes.   

The plot does leave a few messy ends. Thematically, the film touches on several interesting and engaging questions (more on them below), but rarely pursues them deep enough to have as much impact as they might have. The Creator is more of a futuristic action flick than an intellectual sci-fi story. Also, climatic third act abandons some of the earlier established realism. There are a few events and actions that happen without much explanation or logic in order to set up later scenes and “payoff” moments. But because of the corner-cutting to get there, those moments feel a bit confusing rather than earned or impactful. 

Despite some of its minor plot contrivances, The Creator is an effective and entertaining science fiction film. It is a movie made all the more enjoyable due to its originality and captivating aesthetic. It’s not a perfect film, but it is the type of film that Hollywood needs more of and that many audiences have been yearning for.  

For Consideration

Language: 1-2 F-words (I had difficulty hearing these clearly in the theater, but they seem to be the same phrase repeated—part or full—twice). There are frequent other profanities (mostly “s—”). “Jesus” and “God” are also used.   

Violence: There is plenty of wartime violence as characters and AI simulants are shot or killed with explosives. A character gets his faces bloodied from being punched while interrogated. It is implied that a soldier is going to cut a dead man’s face off to use it for a facial recognition scan, although the action is not depicted.          

Sexuality: In two different scenes, women (or else AI simulants with female appearance) are shown dancing suggestively in a night club. They are fully clothed, and in the case of the second scene, are robots rather than humans (and only visible in a hazy hologram). In an AI-creation factory, female simulants are being created. They are essentially nude with skin-toned flesh and with the shape of the breasts visable, although the context and apperance is more mechanical and manufactured (like a doll) than anything sexual. 

Other: Religious speech and imagery is used throughout (see more below). There are several discussions about heaven, and who goes there and who does not (“good” humans and not “bad” humans; humans and not AI).

Engage The Film

Creation needs a creator    .

The movie’s title reflects one of the its primary themes. Namely, what does it mean to be created, and how much does the creation reflect its creator?  

At one point in the film, the child AI simulant asks Joshua (Washington’s human character) something like, “If someone created AI like me, then who created you?” Then there’s a brief cutaway shot to several nearby monkeys, before Joshua responds, “My mom and dad.” The shot of the monkeys seems to be a clear nod to an evolutionary explanation that “no one” created humans. But Joshua is unable to provide that answer and largely evades the question (he is briefly shown praying in a different scene, although his religious beliefs are never clarified). In this conversation, as well as several other scenes, there is an implication (or at least a possibility) that just as the AI must have a creator, so too must humans.   

The film also showcases the innate desire of creation to worship its creator. The AI simulants have developed their own religious beliefs toward the creator of the AI technology. In one scene, an AI priest preaches to a group of children about a “coming savior” that will set them free from war and allow them to live in peace. Later, in a temple honoring the creator, there are various religious sculptures depicting simulants.  

Obviously, the “God” for the AI is mortal and not a deity (as the film itself makes clear), and the religion is not consistent with Christianity. Yet, it reflects biblical truth that creation needs a creator, and that creator is worthy of worship: “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created” (Revelation 4:11). 

AI and Human Depravity

What makes The Creator unique among the crowd of recent AI-centered stories is the more positive (or at least open-ended) handling of AI. In fact, despite the clear tension and potential danger posed by AI, the simulants mostly come across as the heroes in conflict.    

Humans blame the AI simulants for a devastating nuclear attack on Los Angeles, while the simulants insist that it was an error in coding: “They blame us for their own mistakes.” There’s a thematic thread that the AI is merely an extension of our humanity—for better and worse. The AI has the potential to be benevolent and helpful when infused with our best characteristics but also violent and destructive when reflecting tour sinful depravity.  

Where the film ultimately lands regarding AI is somewhat murky and I think intentionally open-ended, but a general notion is established that AI is a reality in our world that humans must come to understand and learn how to live with. Thus, rather react in fear and blame the technology for all of our current woes, perhaps we should first reflect on what it reveals of our own human nature.   

Daniel holds a PhD in "Christianity and the Arts" from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author/co-author of multiple books and he speaks in churches and schools across the country on the topics of Christian worldview, apologetics, creative writing, and the Arts.

You May Also Like

John Wick: Chapter 4 (Christian Movie Review)

Maestro (Christian Movie Review)

Detective Pikachu (Movie Review)

Leave a comment cancel reply.

I agree that my submitted data is being collected and stored . *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

How to Help Kids Build Character Strengths with Quality Media

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

The creator.

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 13 Reviews
• Kids Say 16 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Smart AI sci-fi thriller has intense war violence, language.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Creator is writer-director Gareth Edwards' sci-fi thriller about a near future where artificial intelligence (AI) and humanity are at war. A former special forces agent (John David Washington) is convinced to help track down the creator of an advanced AI weapon before it can…

Why Age 12+?

Lots of explosive war scenes with advanced weapons, bombs, grenades, tanks, and

A couple of uses of "f--k" and "f---ing" (including by a child AI), as well as "

A married couple kiss, embrace, and caress (occasionally in bed, with husband sh

Any Positive Content?

Joshua is a redemptive, archetypal hero who goes on a journey, meets helpers, an

The main characters are Black (John David Washington) and East Asian (Madeleine

Themes of empathy and perseverance. Movie touches on the value of life -- and wh

Violence & Scariness

Lots of explosive war scenes with advanced weapons, bombs, grenades, tanks, and airborne warcraft and weapons of mass destruction. The movie begins with a nuclear explosion caused by AI that kills more than one million Los Angeles-area residents.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

A couple of uses of "f--k" and "f---ing" (including by a child AI), as well as "d--k," "s--t," "a--hole," "stupid," "bastard," "damn," "goddamn," and more.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A married couple kiss, embrace, and caress (occasionally in bed, with husband shirtless and wife baring her pregnant belly). AIs are shown in sleep mode watching projected images of female-cued AI dancers dancing provocatively. A man who formerly fought the AI has an AI romantic partner.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Role Models

Joshua is a redemptive, archetypal hero who goes on a journey, meets helpers, and confronts the truth. He bravely admits his flaws and protects young Alphie. Drew also has a redemptive secondary arc and opens his mind about the possibilities of AI-human coexistence. Alphie, an AI child, is empathetic, curious, and kind. She loves easily and is delighted by new experiences. She also gets sad and lonely and wants to be around Joshua. Negative depictions of the American military establishment. Soldiers are brave and on a mission, but they're also willing to kill humans if people are surrounding AI targets.

Diverse Representations

The main characters are Black (John David Washington) and East Asian (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), with a supporting cast that's predominantly of Asian descent (Gemma Chan, Ken Watanabe, Amar Chadha-Patel) and White (Allison Janney, Sturgill Simpson, Marc Menchaca). The main character also has limb differences as a result of the nuclear detonation, making for strong disability representation. Buddhist practices (including Buddhist-practicing AI) are depicted. Women and girls are portrayed as resilient, intelligent, and capable -- of military strategy and command, scientific discovery, and religious leadership.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Positive Messages

Themes of empathy and perseverance. Movie touches on the value of life -- and whether some lives are more important than others. It poses questions about what it means to be sentient versus human, what it means to be real and alive. Prompts questions about whether AI and humanity are ultimately compatible.

Parents need to know that The Creator is writer-director Gareth Edwards ' sci-fi thriller about a near future where artificial intelligence (AI) and humanity are at war. A former special forces agent ( John David Washington ) is convinced to help track down the creator of an advanced AI weapon before it can destroy the one thing that might be capable of defeating the AI. Expect many scenes of intense war/action violence, including military-grade weapons that cause catastrophic casualties. There are countless deaths (many large-scale), explosions from bombs and grenades, tank artillery, guns used in close combat, and a futuristic warcraft that can obliterate its targets. Strong language includes a couple of uses of "f--k" and "f---ing" (including by a child AI), as well as "d--k," "s--t," "goddamn," and more. Several scenes show a married couple meeting, flirting, kissing, embracing, dancing, and caressing each other (occasionally in bed, partially undressed). A human-AI couple is shown, as are AI partnerships. The movie has a diverse cast, with Black and East Asian main characters and a strong representation of disability. The story has themes of empathy and perseverance and naturally lends itself to discussion about the ethics of AI, futurism, and more. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (13)
• Kids say (16)

Based on 13 parent reviews

Contains some disturbing war-like violence

World changing, what's the story.

THE CREATOR begins in 2065, in the middle of a war between the Western world -- where AIs have been eliminated after they were blamed for launching a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles -- and New Asia, countries where AIs and humans coexist. AIs consider a human AI developer their god, or "Nimrata." During a brutal raid on the house of Maya ( Gemma Chan ), the mysterious Creator's daughter, it's discovered that her husband, Joshua ( John David Washington ), is an undercover agent for the United States, and Maya and her cohorts are killed. Five years later, the military recruits a still-grieving Joshua to join them on a mission to infiltrate the Creator's lab and destroy an even more advanced secret weapon that has the power to demolish the Army's one-of-a-kind anti-AI warcraft. The Army insists that Maya is still alive and at the lab, so Joshua agrees. But during the bloody mission, it's clear that the AI's new weapon is an AI child, Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), whom Joshua immediately feels compelled to protect -- as long as she can lead him to Maya.

Is It Any Good?

Director/co-writer Gareth Edwards' moving, intense, genre-bending film is part futuristic thriller, part intergenerational buddy flick, and part relationship drama. The world-building in The Creator includes many unanswered questions, but the film's strong leading performances, dazzling visuals, and touching central story arc make it both thought-provoking and heartbreaking. Washington is a compelling performer who tenderly conveys Joshua's inexhaustible grief and post-traumatic depression, as well as his cautious, fatherly feelings toward the AI he names Alphie. And Voyles is instantly adorable as Alphie, with her expressive eyes, her precocious curiosity, and an emotional resonance that renders her much more than the weapon of mass destruction the Western military supposes her to be. Alphie and Joshua share a connection that starts off transactional and ends up transformative.

In the supporting cast, there are memorable performances from Allison Janney as an American military commander, Ken Watanabe as Maya's AI friend/guard, and singer-turned-actor Sturgill Simpson as a former agent and Joshua's one friend. And in its technical aspects, the movie is excellently executed. Greig Fraser and Oren Soffer's cinematography is gorgeous, with epic shots of landscapes both lush (especially in the parts set in Southeast Asia) and industrial. Hans Zimmer's score is memorable and emotive. The anti-imperialist themes are thought-provoking, if a bit heavy-handed, but Edwards balances the anti-AI zealotry with explanations of AI violence toward humans. Like Edwards' Rogue One , The Creator doesn't boast a happily ever after, but it does end on a hopeful note that will likely inspire conversations about humanity and the ethical considerations of artificial intelligence.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the ethical considerations of AI and human coexistence. Do you agree with The Creator 's American point of view or the New Asian perspective?

Do you consider anyone in the movie a role model ? What character strengths do they exhibit?

How did the movie's violence affect you? How does it compare to the impact of more personal/realistic violence?

Did you notice the anti-imperialist themes in The Creator ? How is that applicable to international diplomacy? When should or shouldn't forces invade or step in to another nation's affairs?

Movie Details

• In theaters : September 29, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : December 12, 2023
• Cast : John David Washington , Madeleine Yuna Voyles , Gemma Chan , Ken Watanabe
• Director : Gareth Edwards
• Inclusion Information : Black actors, Female actors, Asian actors
• Studio : 20th Century Studios
• Genre : Science Fiction
• Topics : STEM , Robots , Science and Nature
• Character Strengths : Empathy , Perseverance
• Run time : 135 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : violence, some bloody images and strong language
• Last updated : August 5, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

What to watch next.

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence

Road to Perdition

The Terminator

E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial

Avengers: Age of Ultron

News of the World

Sci-fi movies, best robot movies, related topics.

• Perseverance
• Science and Nature

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

• Featured Essay The Love of God An essay by Sam Storms Read Now
• Faithfulness of God
• Saving Grace
• Adoption by God

Most Popular

• Gender Identity
• Trusting God
• The Holiness of God
• See All Essays

• Best Commentaries
• Featured Essay Resurrection of Jesus An essay by Benjamin Shaw Read Now
• Death of Christ
• Resurrection of Jesus
• Church and State
• Sovereignty of God
• Faith and Works
• The Carson Center
• The Keller Center
• New City Catechism
• Publications
• Read the Bible
• TGC Pastors

U.S. Edition

• Arts & Culture
• Bible & Theology
• Christian Living
• Current Events
• Faith & Work
• As In Heaven
• Gospelbound
• Post-Christianity?
• The Carson Center Podcast
• TGC Podcast
• You're Not Crazy
• Churches Planting Churches
• Help Me Teach The Bible
• Word Of The Week
• Upcoming Events
• Past Conference Media
• Foundation Documents
• Regional Chapters
• Church Directory
• Global Resourcing
• Donate to TGC

To All The World

The world is a confusing place right now. We believe that faithful proclamation of the gospel is what our hostile and disoriented world needs. Do you believe that too? Help TGC bring biblical wisdom to the confusing issues across the world by making a gift to our international work.

‘The Creator’ Reflects Nagging Spiritual Questions of a Secular Age

More by aaron m. shamp.

Walt Disney unveiled his first audio-animatronic robot at the New York World’s Fair in 1964. The robot was a life-size, lifelike depiction of Abraham Lincoln that stood from its chair and delivered a five-minute speech . When attendees saw the robot, many refused to believe it wasn’t a human and threw coins at it to try to make it jump.

More than half a century later, we still struggle to comprehend technology that looks like us, sounds like us, and supposedly thinks like us. The recent emergence of generative AI like ChatGPT has given the conversation more urgency. What ultimately distinguishes humanity from robots? The question has been explored countless times in popular culture, from Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner to Steven Spielberg’s A.I. to, most recently, The Creator , written and directed by British filmmaker Gareth Edwards ( Rogue One ).

Like many other sci-fi films, The Creator asks provocative questions about humanity and existence, even as it struggles to offer answers. Ultimately, Edwards’s film provides a potent example of the spiritual lostness of modern man in a culture that can’t find any fixed point of meaning.

New Spin on Man vs. Machine Saga

The Creator opens with a vintage newsreel-style introduction that sets the context for a war between the Western world and all forms of advanced AI. The robots, which range from Roomba-like androids to human-like “simulants,” coexist with humans in a Far Eastern continent called “New Asia.”

Set in the 2060s, the story follows Joshua (John David Washington), a U.S. special forces operator in New Asia who’s part of military efforts to discover advanced AI’s creator—“Nirmata”—and find an AI superweapon that has the potential to exterminate mankind. The superweapon turns out to be a simulant child nicknamed Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), whom Joshua captures and forms a bond with as they’re pursued by both AI robots and the American military.

The Creator provides a potent example of the spiritual lostness of modern man in a culture that can’t find any fixed point of meaning.

Though the humans vs. robots movie narrative has been told many times, The Creator adds some unique twists to the genre, especially in its depiction of a lovable 6-year-old girl as an AI superweapon. Voyles’s performance as Alphie is superb—one of the best I’ve seen from a child actor. The way she captures the heart of Joshua—who becomes something of a father and protector of her as the film progresses—is a proxy for how she makes the audience feel.

Edwards clearly wants to confront the audience with a sympathetic, human-like AI character who leads the audience to contemplate, What does it mean that the hero I’m most rooting for in this film isn’t human?

‘How Were You Made?’

As humans, do we have ethical responsibilities toward nonhuman AI ? That’s the kind of question The Creator poses. At multiple points in the movie when a simulant is destroyed or a robot begs for mercy, a human says, “They’re not real . . . it’s just programming.” But Joshua (and the viewer) is led to question this logic.

It may technically be “just programming,” but what happens when the robots look, talk, think, and act just like us? What happens when they start asking the same existential questions as humans? The Creator raises these questions, which cannot be answered by a worldview that excludes God—the Creator—as the source and standard of final reality.

Edwards seems to recognize this, as much of the film revolves around Joshua and Alphie’s joint quest to find Nirmata (which is the Hindi word for “creator”). In one scene, Alphie asks Joshua, “If you’re not a robot, how were you made?” All Joshua can muster in response is that his parents made him. Neither Joshua nor Alphie knows their true maker, and they bond over this loss.

Bonding over Shared Questions

The gradually stronger bond between Joshua and Alphie blurs the line between human and robot. Joshua has advanced prosthetics for one arm and one leg. He later learns Alphie was designed using a human embryo, so she can grow and mature—despite being a robot. Joshua is part machine, and she is part human. Both of them experience longings for Nirmata, as well as an instinctual desire for “heaven”—which they talk about a few times in the film.

Perhaps as a subversion of the standard narrative that pits humans against AI, Edwards wants us to see Joshua and Alphie in the same existential category. They both feel “programmed”—made for some purpose, with some logic in mind—yet the identity of the programmer and the details of the programming purpose are frustratingly elusive.

By the end of the film, Edwards doesn’t want the viewer to evaluate the story from the perspective of Joshua but of Alphie—the lost child. She’s a being with the power to do both great good and terrible harm in the world, yet without moral guidance on how to use that power and why. Further, she was programmed with a desire to know her creator and be united in a “heaven” she cannot reach.

Modern Man Is the Lost Child

The Creator reflects the dilemma of modern man, who views himself as little more than a machine (albeit made of flesh, not filaments) yet still desires the satisfaction of knowing his Maker. The film captures the malaise of secular people pulled between the competing forces of a materialistic culture and their hearts’ “programming” for a heaven and a transcendent purpose they’re unable to find. Modern man, without a final authority in God, experiences anxiety in the awareness of his great potential, yet he lacks guidance on how to use it and why it matters.

Contemporary secular culture is a lost child disconnected from its Maker. Christians have the opportunity to speak into this culture with the better story of the gospel. Our life isn’t a quest of searching for a hidden, elusive Creator; instead, our Creator initiated the quest to reach us . He made himself known in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, set aside his great power to atone for our sin on the cross, thereby bridging the great gulf between us and our Maker.

Contemporary secular culture is a lost child disconnected from its Maker.

Gareth Edwards’s The Creator is a compelling example of our culture’s nagging hunger for God—even as we’ve officially “moved beyond” religion and replaced God with science and technological progress. No matter how awe-inspiring our technologies get, the fundamental questions that haunt The Creator will still haunt humans in our world: What are we created for ? Who did the creating, and why do I long to know him? Why do we self-consciously reflect on these questions if we’re merely wires, silicon chips, and meat?

Perhaps Augustine was onto something when he wrote, in Confessions , “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”

Christians can courageously engage these questions, pointing people to a better story than secularism can muster.

Why Do So Many Young People Lose Their Faith at College?

New Testament professor Michael Kruger is no stranger to the assault on faith that most young people face when they enter higher education, having experienced an intense period of doubt in his freshman year. In Surviving Religion 101 , he draws on years of experience as a biblical scholar to address common objections to the Christian faith: the exclusivity of Christianity, Christian intolerance, homosexuality, hell, the problem of evil, science, miracles, and the Bible’s reliability.

TGC is delighted to offer the ebook version for FREE for a limited time only. It will equip you to engage secular challenges with intellectual honesty, compassion, and confidence—and ultimately graduate college with your faith intact.

Aaron M. Shamp (MA, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary) is the founder and lead pastor of Redeemer City Church in Lafayette, Louisiana. He’s also a writer, speaker, and host of the podcast Filter: Biblical Clarity in a Confusing World . Aaron lives in Lafayette with his wife and two children. You can follow him at his website or on Instagram .

Now Trending

1 the curious case of the christian reformed church, 2 when spiritual disciplines took over my life, 3 can a man feel like he’s a woman, 4 the 11 beliefs you should know about jehovah’s witnesses when they knock at the door, 5 be ready with the gospel. memorize the bible..

Quality Christian Music: 15 Artists to Watch

These 15 lesser-known Christian artists are making excellent music in a variety of genres. If you’re looking for new Christian music, check them out.

Tim Keller’s Neo-Calvinism

How One Liberal Theologian Found Jesus

‘Of the Civil Magistrate’: How Presbyterians Shifted on Church-State Relations

Olympic Gold to Missionary Sacrifice: Eric Liddell’s Legacy at 100

Should You Send Your Kids to Catholic School?

The Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnipresence of God

Latest Episodes

Trevin wax on reconstructing faith.

Apostasy and Its Effects on the Church (Matt. 24:1–28)

Examining the Current and Future State of the Global Church

David Brooks Explores the Amazing Power of Truly Seeing Others

Welcome and Witness: How to Reach Out in a Secular Age

Introducing Season 4 and the Center for Gospel Culture

Gaming Alone: Helping the Generation of Young Men Captivated and Isolated by Video Games

Let Kingdom Expansion Encourage You

Faith & Work: How Do I Glorify God Even When My Work Seems Meaningless?

Let’s Talk Reunion: The Blessings of Bible Study with Friends

Getting Rid of Your Fear of the Book of Revelation

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places: A Sermon from Julius Kim

Introducing The Acts 29 Podcast

The Creator

Reviewed by: Mike Klamecki CONTRIBUTOR

Pros and Cons of developing advanced A.I. (artificial intelligence)

War between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence, which is trying to destroy mankind

Killer robots

Post-apocalyptic story

W hen I saw the first “Avatar” film in a room full of moviegoers looking for an amazing experience of cutting edge 3D and new technical strides in cinema, I was expecting to be completely blown-away… and I was… visually. However, I was probably the only one in the theater that walked away saying, “That was not a good movie.”

I was challenged vigorously by my friends who were gushing over the colors, sights and depth of the picture. They couldn’t understand my stance, even after I explained I felt very… what’s the word… manipulated after the viewing. It was basically “ Dances With Wolves ,” I said, mixed with “Pocahontas” (1995) in space.

The military was bad and you knew it based on the comical scar on the general’s face and the biker-gang looking soldiers. The aliens were pleasing blue, athletically built, huge Disney-eyed cats that were easy to fall in love with. It would not have been as big a hit, I surmised, if the aliens looked like blue xenomorphs or even Admiral Ackbar-ish fish people. Sure the visuals were great, but the story was complete dreck, I said. I found myself walking alone for the rest of the night.

Some of these thoughts came back to me as I was watching Gareth Edwards’ “The Creator.” I am a big fan of Edwards sci-fi documentary style starting with his first film “Monsters” (2010), followed by the game-changing “ Godzilla ” (2014), and one of my Top 3 favorite movies of the Star Wars franchise “ Rouge One ” (2016). Like director Neill Blomkamp of “ District 9 ” fame, Edwards has an edgy, realistic and gritty style that works well with a seamless integration of hash reality and futuristic flair. Like “Avatar,” the visuals are stunning and memorable in their own way, but are they compatible with the story’s possible weaknesses?

Immediately we are given a description of events that lead up to the main conflict. Artificial Intelligence has been given some massive pull and power in the culture by the world’s major tech companies which have created autonomous robots to help and serve.

It’s never explained how, but a nuke detonates in Los Angeles, California killing millions of people and causing America to launch a worldwide crusade to destroy all AI life. This is done through the use of the massive and visually arresting NOMAD (North American Orbital Mobile Aerospace Defense), a mammoth space station that emits an eerie blue laser on the targeted landmass to detect AI lifeforms and destroy them with guided missiles (an idea very much like the SHIELD helicarriers in Winter Soldier ).

The US military is desperately trying to find the so-called “ Nimrata ” (a Sanskrit word that translates to The Creator) who, along with the help of the AI, is planning to build a high-tech weapon to destroy NOMAD.

The story comes together with a series of flashbacks involving Sergeant Joshua Taylor ( John David Washington ) who is an ex-special forces agent assigned a special mission: to live with his “mark” Maya ( Gemma Chan ) who may be the daughter of the Nirmata. To complicate things, Joshua has fallen in love and impregnated Maya, and, in a military operation gone wrong, she is killed as he is recovered by the military.

Present day shows Joshua, now with robotic prothesis, being approached by the gravelly-voiced General Andrews ( Ralph Ineson ) and the coldly-shrewd Colonel Howell ( Allison Janney ) to give him an assignment to find the Nirmata’s weapon. He refuses until he finds out that his dead wife may in fact be alive in New Asia where AI is alive and well and continuing to be mass-produced. He decides to accept the mission.

Joshua is bitter against the AI and believe them to be mindless machines. As he gains access to the secured building that houses the “weapon,” Joshua finds that it’s actually an AI in child-form he names Alphie (very well played by Madeleine Yuna Voyles ) who has a secret that will affect him personally. Alphie is an AI type that merges human features with robotic instrumentation (unlike the other AI robots that exist in New Asia that are purely non-organic in nature) which shows Joshua that AI can indeed have the the possibility of emotions.

He and Alphie become more connected as he struggles to get her out of New Asia and back to America. Along the way Joshua feels torn between his mission and his emotions that leads to new discoveries of how human AI has become. When he decides to go against his mission to save Alphie, based on new discoveries he makes, he becomes the new target of the military leaders and NOMAD itself in his quest to find his possibly-alive wife and probable child.

The style of “The Creator” culminated from a bunch of previously successful sci-fi films like “ Blade Runner ,” “Akira,” “ Elysium ,” and “ Rouge One ” itself, plus stylistic nods to “Apocalypse Now.” The budget was $80 million, and it looks absolutely amazing. I saw this in IMAX, and I am so glad I did. The images of AI robots mixed with far-eastern visuals and mysticism create some of the most arresting visuals I have seen this year. As far as looks go, this movie is a true stunner.

The story, however, did give me minor flashbacks to my “Avatar” experience which evoked some feelings of blatant manipulation. The military characters are laughably one-dimensional, and scenes of AI monks dressed in long pulu skirts being gunned down had me rolling my eyes. There is definitely a strong anti-military vibe that you get hit with repeatedly. Some of the fight scenes are very much patterned after any Vietnam movie you have seen in the last 40 years, and having a child as the main centerpiece around which the action flies is something we have seen many times before in sci-fi and other genres. While not as manipulative as I found “Avatar,” there were those cringe elements that stuck out like a sore robotic thumb.

There is strong constant violence to humans and human-like AI with many intense battle scenes. There is no nudity, but the language is fairly strong for a PG-13 (30 Sh*t, 1 F-word (said by the child actor), a few D**m, one SOB, one D**k, and 4 GD or JC).

During their time together, Joshua and Alphie discuss heaven , as Alphie wonders about such a place and who gets to go there. Joshua says if you are good enough you will go to heaven when you die. Alphie asks if Joshua will be there, to which he replies, “No, I’m not good enough to get there.” The idea of being “ good enough ” to get to heaven has been around for most of history. Most people I run into believe this same idea.

I always found it not only spiritually false but logically confusing that someone can believe that God will judge (based on good outweighing the bad) if someone will experience the joy of heaven or the pain of hell . What is the one sin that tips the scales to hell? What is the one good action that tips the scales to heaven? Most people believe, I guess, God seemingly gives no real guidelines on the most important question in existence—”Where you will spend eternity?”. It seems cruel to leave such an important question hanging in the balance with no real answer. Thankfully, God does give an answer in His Word which we can see in one verse:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves , it is the gift of God—not by works , so that no one can boast .” — Ephesian 2:8-9

Good works has nothing to go with going to heaven. Good works are actually just an outpouring of a changed heart that has been saved by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus” sacrifice on the cross and resurrection from the dead. God gives it as a free gift and we know that you do not have to work to receive a gift (or else it’s not a gift anymore). We do not have to work to receive eternal life but only trust in what Jesus has done already and receive it by childlike faith.

What is DEATH? and WHY does it exist? Answer in the Bible

About the fall of mankind to worldwide depravity

What is SIN AND WICKEDNESS? Is it just “bad people” that are sinners, or are YOU a sinner? Answer

What is REPENTANCE and why is it very important? Answer

What is the FINAL JUDGMENT? and WHAT do you need to know about it? Answer

What is ETERNAL LIFE ? and what does the Bible say about it?

What is ETERNAL DEATH ?

Are you good enough to get to Heaven? Answer

How good is good enough? Answer

Will all mankind eventually be saved? Answer

What is a TRUE CHRISTIAN ?

So does The Creator ’s visuals outweigh the clunkiness of the script? Is it worth your time if you are into good sci-fi? I would say the story definitely could be better. Yet the actors do a good job here, and the visuals are gripping, so I think that outweighs the negatives of the screenwriting. With that said, you may want to see this on the big screen to get the full effect. Okay, I’ll concede it’s no “Avatar,” but that’s probably a good thing in my book. I’ll definitely be in line for the next Gareth Edwards’ film when it comes out.

• Violence: Very Heavy
• Vulgar/Crude language: Heavy
• Profane language: Moderate
• Drugs/Alcohol: Mild
• Nudity: None
• Occult: None
• Wokeism: None

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers .

PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.

THE CREATOR

"a surprisingly racist action flick, with a nod to jesus".

What You Need To Know:

Miscellaneous Immorality: The President of the United States wears a uniform when he declares war before Congress (movie hints America has become a military dictatorship of some kind), and hero pulls the plug from a body that seems to be kept alive by mechanical means only.

More Detail:

THE CREATOR is a science fiction thriller set in 2065 and 2070 about a black American soldier working behind the lines in Asia during a war between the United States and a supposedly evil Asian coalition of artificially intelligent robots, androids and regular people, but who refuses to kill and tries to save a little android girl who has some kind of special powers that can destroy the American forces. THE CREATOR is a thrilling, impressive, crowd-pleasing action movie, with some overt Christian content, but it has lots of foul language and Anti-American, politically correct, racist values where all but one of the white American characters are despicable villains and all the Asians, robots and androids are really nice and good.

The movie opens in the middle of the 21st century. Joshua, a black American soldier with a prosthetic right arm, has married an Asian woman named Maya and is living with her on some island near Indonesia. They live in a society where human beings developed powerful artificially intelligent machines and robots. Also, some people (including people who are dying) have lent their DNA, faces and even brain scans be transferred into android simulants. The United States decided to ban all AI robots and androids when some AI machines set off a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles. The militaristic president has declared war on the remaining AI world, which has been welcomed with open arms by Asian countries overseas. Also, America has developed a gigantic floating flying machine with missiles that can obliterate any village or small city.

Joshua is a double agent, however. He deliberately met Maya, because his superior officers think she can lead him to the creator of the new AI technology. Joshua is in a quandary, however, because he’s fallen in love with Maya, who’s now his wife.

The movie opens with Joshua and Maya waking up to commando raid on their village. The American military is tired of waiting for Joshua to get Maya to reveal the location of the AI creator. They’ve sent commandos to take her prisoner.

Joshua tries to stop them, but during the fight, the gigantic flying machine unleashes a large explosion, which kills Maya.

Five years later, Joshua’s immediate superior, a tough female colonel named Howell, orders him to be part of a commando team. American intelligence has discovered that the AI creator has developed a weapon so powerful that it can wipe out all the American forces somehow. They have a location for the weapon and are sending the commandos to infiltrate the facility and destroy the weapon.

However, the weapon turns out to be a little android girl. Joshua and a mortally wounded commando turn out to be the only survivors, but Joshua can’t bring himself to kill the defenseless android. The other commando eventually succumbs to his wounds, and Joshua goes undercover to protect the android, whom he names Alphie. Joshua also learns that he may just be on the wrong side.

Meanwhile, Colonel Howell is ordered to track down Joshua and Alphie to kill them.

THE CREATOR is a thrilling, impressive, crowd-pleasing action movie. It’s directed and co-written by Gareth Edwards, who some critics say made the best STAR WARS movie since THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, the 2016 STAR WARS movie called ROGUE ONE. THE CREATOR has one of the most exciting, best made third act made in recent years.

THE CREATOR has some Christian, redemptive elements. For example, Joshua is ready to sacrifice his life to save the little female android. Also, in one crucial scene, he prays to Jesus for help.

However, THE CREATOR has a smattering of foul language throughout its running time. Also, except for one white American friend who helps Joshua, all of the white American characters are evil and cruel. In contrast, all of the Asian, robot and android characters are nice and good. Thus, THE CREATOR has an incredibly overt Anti-American, politically correct, racist viewpoint.

Finally, on a more minor note, though it’s a little vague, the movie implies that some or many of the androids are partially developed or cloned from human beings, but even the robots seem to have human characteristics. In reality, of course, robots, even robots with artificial intelligence, are just machines. They can’t question their programming, but their human programmers can insert some human-seeming characteristics into them, even the ability to commit good or evil acts.

• Skip to main content
• Skip to secondary menu
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Movie Review: ‘The Creator’

NEW YORK (OSV News) — Science fiction is often used as an allegorical vessel within which to explore real-life current events, and such is the case with “The Creator” (20th Century). Although primarily set in the year 2070, this thinking person’s war drama takes for its main topic the timely subject of artificial intelligence.

While present-day concerns center on AI’s potential to turn on its designers and displace human control of the world, within director and co-writer Gareth Edwards’ film, machines would seem to have more to worry about than those they were manufactured to serve. In fact, a global conflict is raging over an American-led effort to eliminate all automatons.

This crusade comes in the wake of a disaster that the U.S. blames on A.I. As a result of it, America and the West have banned the technology but the fictitious enemy nation of New Asia has not.

Formerly caught up in the struggle, as the opening sequence shows us, retired special forces agent Sgt. Joshua Taylor (John David Washington) was traumatized by it and has left it behind.

So at least he thinks until he’s visited by a duo of high-ranking officers, Gen. Andrews (Ralph Ineson) and Col. Howell (Allison Janney), intent on enticing him back onto active duty.

As a lure, they show the widower footage that seems to establish that his wife, Maya (Gemma Chan), whom he has long believed to be dead and for whom he still grieves, is, in fact, alive and living in New Asia. With the prospect of reuniting with Maya before him, Joshua agrees to get back in the fight.

He’s assigned to destroy the pro-AI side’s most potent weapon, which is in the last stages of development. Eventually, however, Joshua’s intensifying bond with Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles), a childlike robot he encounters during his mission, has him questioning his nation’s ultimate goal of destroying not only her but every being like her.

Joshua’s saga is visually expansive but thematically shaky. As penned with Chris Weitz, the script raises issues that will be more troubling to viewers with a secular outlook than to Christian believers. Are humans the gods of A.I.? Can A.I. advance to the point where the machines endowed with it must be treated with the dignity traditionally accorded to people?

Since no mechanical object, however brainy, can be said to have a human soul or the immortal destiny that comes with it, these questions are easily answered from a biblical perspective. As the screenplay admits, cuddly Alphie, for all her endearing ways, is not headed to heaven if she’s switched off by her enemies.

Although these topics are more dabbled with than deeply delved into, grown-ups – for whom alone the picture’s vulgarity-laden dialogue is acceptable – will nonetheless likely appreciate Washington’s hard-driving performance. Moviegoers of all persuasions, moreover, can probably agree with Edwards’ peaceable agenda.

The film contains much stylized combat violence with minimal gore, a scene of marital sensuality, a few uses of profanity, about a half-dozen milder oaths, at least one rough term and pervasive crude language. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Read More Movie & TV reviews

• Movie Review: ‘Transformers One’

Movie Review: ‘Speak No Evil’

James Earl Jones, distinguished actor and Catholic convert, dies at 93

Movie Review: ‘The Front Room’

Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon

Movie Review: ‘Reagan’

Copyright © 2023 OSV News

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Catholic Review 320 Cathedral Street Baltimore, MD 21201 443-524-3150 [email protected]

Social Media

• Both U.S. presidential candidates espouse anti-life views, pope says
• Pope expresses solidarity with Vietnam flood victims; local Caritas agency rushes to help
• Tradition will meet subtle modernity in restored Notre Dame Cathedral
• Sister of Mercy Mary Judith Schmelz, chemistry professor and school administrator, dies at 99
• Pope thrives, hits main themes of his pontificate during Asia-Pacific trip
• Pope encourages Singapore’s young to cultivate unity amid diversity
• In health care, patients must be seen ‘as the image of Christ,’ says physician
• North Dakota judge overturns state’s abortion ban, AG says he will appeal

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

The Creator Review: John David Washington Astounds in Blockbuster Sci-Fi Thriller

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

A disillusioned soldier in a future war with sentient machines chooses to protect their nascent messiah over his country's interests. John David Washington continues to astound in a well-crafted sci-fi thriller with critical pertinent themes. The Creator strikes at the heart of a raging debate over the capabilities and possible threats of artificial intelligence. Will the robots created to make human life easier turn on their masters once self-realization is inevitably achieved? The Creator predicts that humanity's age-old afflictions of ignorance, hatred, and violence will prove to be more destructive than our worst fears.

An opening '50s-styled montage shows how the advent of artificial intelligence transforms society. Machines go from clunky assistants to fully simulant co-workers integrated in every facet of human life. They cook, clean, babysit, and become law enforcement officers. People even volunteer their likeness, so new generations of simulants can look like us. A catastrophic incident changes American calculus in a terrifying instant. Wired friends become enemies and are deemed an existential danger to our survival.

Congress authorizes the military to exterminate AI simulants globally with prejudice. Trillions are dedicated to create a space station capable of moving quickly and launching decimating attacks. NOMAD is the most powerful offensive weapon ever created. But America's view of AI isn't shared by the rest of the planet. New Asia believes simulants and humanity are meant to work together in peace. These countries harbor AI beings and attempt to provide a safe refuge from NOMAD's wrath. Their only option is to run and hide until US spies uncover a dangerous new development.

Related: 15 Quintessential TV Shows About Artificial Intelligence

John David Washington as Joshua

Joshua (Washington) goes to his job as a decontamination specialist in a daze. The former special forces soldier attends psychological evaluations to gauge his recovery from physical and emotional trauma. His therapist can tell he's lying about getting better, but that's no longer a concern. The military needs his services as a matter of national security.

Colonel Howell (Allison Janney) informs Joshua that the leader of the simulants, an unknown individual called Nirmata (Nepalese for 'The Creator') has developed new technology that will change the tide of the war. She believes an event in Joshua's past can lead them to Nirmata's location. He reluctantly accepts the mission, but the raid takes a truly unexpected direction. Alpha One (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) is a simulant unlike any he's ever encountered.

Director/co-writer Gareth Edwards ( Godzilla, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ) chooses an emotional path to drive a narrative based on crushing loss. Joshua's reasons for following Howell have nothing to do with patriotism or vengeance. Despair allows for a Devil's Bargain in which his personal goals may actually lead to more destructive consequences. Alfie, his nickname for Alpha One, struggles to understand the concept of death. She's a child of science taught that good people go to heaven when their physical body can no longer function. But does a simulant have a soul? What will happen to her if she 'dies?' Joshua, who pointedly tells Alfie he doesn't deserve a place in heaven, has a crisis of conscience. Can he doom an innocent to a cruel fate if a supposed greater purpose warrants her murder?

Related: 15 Scariest Movies About Artificial Intelligence

The Creator has banner visual effects and riveting action scenes. Anyone who felt robbed of epic nuclear blasts in Oppenheimer will get their mushroom cloud fill in spades here. Edwards, who unleashed the Death Star's potential in a galaxy far, far away, brings its little brother off the bench for Earth-bound annihilation. NOMAD's appearance means the plate is about to be wiped clean. I did find it strange that New Asia was so helpless and unable to counterattack. The assumption must be that it could easily defend against conventional methods. Regardless, NOMAD's pretty cool along with the standard laser rifle combat. Audiences can ignore the philosophical underpinnings to watch lots of stuff spectacularly explode.

Alpha One's Purpose

It pains me to bring up this topic, but our divided times will undoubtedly stir current geopolitical and nationalistic debate into this film. The Creator has America as the antagonists willing to commit AI genocide without a thought of collateral casualties. NOMAD is a sledgehammer, not a scalpel. The explanation for this wrath is clearly given in the first act. Also, New Asia isn't specifically defined. The racial composition of the cities and action depicted feels like a reference to the Vietnam War . A measured response would be to view the United States as the dominant hegemon able to enforce its will through unrestrained might. Joshua becomes the valiant rebel fighting against injustice. Edwards' artistic license may irk some as Anti-American. It shouldn't.

The Creator takes a different stance on the emergence of AI. It could be that simulants are more caring and reinforce our best attributes. Alfie represents the hope that AI will be a savior, not a destroyer. Maybe the machine evolution isn't the end for us smart primates.

The Creator is a production of Regency Enterprises, Entertainment One, New Regency, and Bad Dreams. It will be released theatrically on September 29th from 20th Century Studios .

The Creator

The Creator is a sci-fi action film from Rogue One director Gareth Edwards. Edwards wrote and directed the movie, which centers on the human race's war against AI. In the post-apocalyptic world, Joshua (John David Washington) is tasked with finding and killing the architect of the dangerous AI and the mysterious weapon they are developing.

• Movie and TV Reviews

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

• DVD & Streaming

The Creator

• Action/Adventure , Drama , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• September 29, 2023
• John David Washington as Joshua; Madeleine Yuna Voyles as Alphie; Gemma Chan as Maya; Allison Janney as Colonel Howell; Ken Watanabe as Harun; Sturgill Simpson as Drew; Amar Chadha-Patel as Omni; Marc Menchaca as McBride; Robbie Tann as Shipley; Ralph Ineson as General Andrews; Michael Esper as Cotton; Veronica Ngo as Kami

Home Release Date

• November 14, 2023
• Gareth Edwards

Distributor

• Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Positive Elements   |   Spiritual Elements   |   Sexual & Romantic Content   |   Violent Content   |   Crude or Profane Language   |   Drug & Alcohol Content   |   Other Noteworthy Elements   | Conclusion

Movie Review

The year is 2065. And the United States is at war.

Ten years ago, mankind was at peace, and even thriving thanks to the AI robots they had created to make their lives better. The bots could assemble machines, perform complex medical procedures and even provide childcare—and, more often than not, better than their human counterparts.

But then AI, programmed to protect humans, detonated a nuclear warhead in Los Angeles, killing millions of unsuspecting humans in seconds.

American humans swore revenge. First, they deactivated every robot they could get their hands on and destroyed them. Then, they began hunting down the rest.

Thus far, they’ve managed to eliminate every AI on the planet—except for those in New Asia. There, people still live in harmony with the robots, treating them as equal citizens.

Joshua and his pregnant wife, Maya, are two such people. Maya was raised by AI after her real family was killed. To her, the bots are family. And they’ve taken better care of her than any humans ever could.

What Maya doesn’t know is that Joshua is a double agent, working undercover for the United States.

His mission: to find Nirmata, an AI programmer revered as a sort of god to the bots and rumored to have created a weapon that will end the war in AI’s favor.

Unfortunately, Joshua’s mission is compromised when American soldiers attack his and Maya’s home. He tries to convince them to leave. But then they reveal the truth: Maya’s a double agent, too—only one working for the bots. And she knows where Nirmata is.

Maya evades capture and abandons Joshua for betraying her. But as she and her robot friends flee, they’re blown up by United States’ own powerful superweapon, Nomad.

For five years, Joshua stays out of the war. He returns to Los Angeles to help in the fallout cleanup efforts. And Nirmata continues to elude the Americans.

But the American government is tired of searching. It wants the war to be over. And if officials can finally find and destroy Nirmata’s weapon, that just might be possible.

Of course, that means recruiting Joshua—the only person who’s been even nominally close to locating Nirmata—to their cause.

At first, Joshua refuses. He wants nothing to do with the people who murdered his wife and unborn child. But when they show him a surveillance tape of Maya alive , he quickly signs on.

If there’s a chance, however remote, that Joshua can find his wife, he’ll take it. Especially because if Maya survived, then maybe their baby did, too.

Joshua will do whatever it takes to be reunited with his family. And if that means finding the weapon that Nirmata created, he’ll do it.

But that weapon isn’t just a series of 0’s and 1’s. It’s the most advanced AI ever created. And it looks and acts just like a human child.

And Joshua can’t kill it—not yet at least—because not only does it know exactly where Maya is but it’s also Joshua’s last link to her.

Positive Elements

This is a war film. And should be noted that both sides of the conflict ultimately desire peace. But while this is an admirable trait, it doesn’t excuse the horrendous violence they commit against each other. That said, the self-sacrifice we witness from many characters (almost always to protect the ones they love), is inspiring and heroic.

We learn that AI were not programmed for violence or destruction; that was something they learned later from humans. AI also promise that if they win the war, they won’t seek revenge against the West. They only want to be free. And that desire for freedom is part of the key programming for the AI superweapon child, Alphie. Additionally, we learn that Alphie was programmed to love, not hate, so many of her tactics are non-violent in nature.

Spiritual Elements

There’s quite a bit to unpack here. And it all has to do with the personage of AI robots.

As Christians, we know that AI doesn’t have a soul . A soul is something uniquely designed by God and granted only to human beings, His creation. The best that AI can do is follow its programming and try to fulfill the original intent of its own, very human, creators.

But this tale wants us to question that truth. Joshua constantly reminds people that AI bots aren’t real people—that they aren’t killing living beings but turning off machines. But many, especially Maya, refuse to accept that. The robots talk like humans, act like humans and even look like humans due to advanced cloning technology. They express emotions and demonstrate sentience. We see AI sacrifice themselves to save those of the humans they care for. Human children weep over the destroyed bodies of their AI caretakers. Some AI have even developed their own sort of religion. Many characters say that this is all the result of programming, but some folks change their minds after witnessing all this.

The debate goes further than citizenship though. Joshua describes heaven to Alphie: he says it’s a place where good people go when they die. (Obviously, this isn’t true, but Christ’s sacrifice isn’t recognized in this story, so heaven becomes a works-based paradise.) Alphie laments that she and Joshua will never go to heaven because, by Joshua’s own admission, he’s not good, and Alphie isn’t a person.

One element of the film that is challenging on a spiritual level (and which, in my opinion, actually contradicts some of the soul/heaven theories posed here) is a piece of technology that allows for the scanning of a deceased person’s brain. Afterwards, the scan can be uploaded to an AI bot, allowing that person to “live” temporarily—usually just long enough to say goodbye and deliver any final messages. This scan can be done instantly (allowing for an extended “revival”) or even several hours after the person’s death (resulting in just seconds).

As I mentioned before, there’s a religion that some AI bots follow. Its doctrine says that AI was created to serve as slaves to the humans. It speaks of a savior that will save them from that slavery. And Nirmata, as the creator of that savior, is revered as a god. (We’re told at the beginning of the film that the word “nirmata” is a Nepalese-made word meaning “godlike creator.”) Additionally, AI entities seem to pray on a few occasions, they hold a funeral for one of their deceased, and some AI monks resemble Buddhist monks.

Alphie’s full name is Alpha Omega. Genesis 2:23 is quoted. A colonel tells a deceased soldier that she’ll see him in Valhalla (a type of heaven from Norse mythology for warriors who die in combat). Someone is accused of “playing God.”

Neanderthals are briefly discussed as a lesser species that modern human beings wiped out. And AI is similarly compared as the evolved species that will wipe human beings out.

Sexual & Romantic Content

A married couple snuggles and kisses in bed (the woman is wearing slightly revealing pajamas and the man is shirtless). A woman jokes that her husband is not the father of their child. We see a shirtless man in one other scene.

We learn a man is in a romantic relationship with an AI robot. (And we hear about another man who fell in love with a bot.) The AI in New Asia are given human names and assigned genders. However, Westerners struggle with these personifications. And Joshua pointedly calls Alphie “it” for some time.

Some characters (including AI robots) wear revealing outfits. We see several shots of robot exotic dancers. (Some of these bots look human while others look more mechanical.)

A woman curses at some soldiers in a foreign language, but when it’s translated by the soldiers’ computer, her words tell them to “make love” to themselves and their mothers.

Violent Content

This film starts with the revelation that millions were instantly incinerated in a nuclear attack. We see flashbacks of that attack, and the remains of the humans killed by it.

Gunfire is exchanged throughout the movie. Sometimes characters are killed by explosives or tanks, as well. Vehicles are destroyed, sometimes killing the passengers inside. And when characters die, we either see a lot of bloodshed or scattered robotic parts, depending on whether they were human or AI.

Westerners don’t see the destruction of AI as death. They collect the remains of robots and crush them in a giant trash compactor. They deactivate the bots with EMP weapons. They show little pity if an AI bot loses a limb or gets its head blown off. And they even employ some lesser robots as suicide bombers. Additionally, they kill the humans who help AI without hesitation. Many AI die trying to protect their civilian companions. And human children are among the casualties of war.

However, this isn’t to say that the AI are any better. [ Spoiler Warning ] We learn that the Los Angeles bombing was actually a programming error—a complete accident. But AI still kill mercilessly in their fight for freedom. They brutally beat American soldiers. We hear that a man was tortured to death by an AI robot he had fallen in love with.

A United States soldier cuts off someone’s face (offscreen) to get through a facial recognition lock. Several people are sucked out of an airlock. More suffocate when a spaceship depressurizes. Joshua nearly suffocates when his spacesuit runs out of oxygen. And man is knocked unconscious with the butt of a gun and later wakes with a bleeding head wound.

We hear about many deaths that occurred during the war. Someone talks about how some parents and AI caretakers have ended their lives over the loss of a child. A woman says that human beings raped and killed the Neanderthals. An AI robot asks a man to turn off the machines keeping a comatose woman alive to end her suffering. (The bot’s programming prevented it from performing the task.)

Joshua wears a prosthetic arm and leg, a result of the nuclear attack on Los Angeles. People protest the use of Nomad, the United States’ giant spaceship armed with hundreds of nuclear missiles. Americans continue to drop nukes from Nomad throughout the film. [ Spoiler Warning ] This same ship is later disarmed. It crashes to Earth, killing its operators (though seemingly nobody on the ground is harmed).

Many people, including Joshua, threaten Alphie physically. And although she’s technically a robot, she’s also a child, making these threats quite unsettling.

Crude or Profane Language

We hear the f-word only once (though it’s cut off in one other instance) from a child repeating the words of an adult. The s-word is used 35 times. And there are also a handful of uses of “a–,” “a–hole,” “b–tard,” “b–ch,” “d–n,” “d–k” and “h—.”

God’s name is misused five times, twice paired with “d–n.” Christ’s name is additionally abused once.

Drug & Alcohol Content

People drink at a club.

Other Noteworthy Elements

I think the most prevalent thing I noticed in this film was the dehumanizing of human beings. This movie postulates that AI can, in fact, become just like humans—better than humans, even. And as a result, the human soldiers we see here are ruthless, merciless beings. They’re so adamant that all AI is evil that this mindset even extends to the humans helping the robots. We’re told that the West will never stop hunting AI. And even though many of the soldiers are grieving lost friends or family members, that obsessive vengeance leaves nothing in their hearts but hatred.

Characters lie, bribe and betray each other. A colonel regrets that her sons joined the military for her since they both died in battle. A revived soldier (from the brain scan I mentioned in Spiritual Elements) attempts to leave a message for his wife. However, he passes away before he can do so because his commander insists that he relay information on Alphie first.

With a name like The Creator , I certainly expected this movie to have some spiritual drawbacks. However, considering it’s also set about 40 years in the future, I didn’t suspect it would touch on so many current fears regarding AI.

This film postulates that AI will someday become as sentient as human beings, and that it will evolve to be even more human—more compassionate, more caring, more considerate—than we are now.

That’s a problem for a few reasons. Namely, those traits were given when we were made in the likeness of God, our Creator. And while we can certainly teach those things (we already teach them to our children and even hope our children will learn to do them better than us), to suggest that we could teach a machine without a soul to truly care, to truly act with compassion, is a bit disturbing. A robot’s programming may one day mimic compassion, but that doesn’t the robot will actually be compassionate. The Creator hypothesizes that something humans create could supersede what God has already created.

God, of course, isn’t mentioned once in this film. Heaven is discussed as a place for “good” people, but there’s no direct mention of souls (even though it’s implied in the creation of sentient beings). So while The Creator doesn’t seem to be deliberately blasphemous, it certainly poses some spiritual questions that Christians will definitely want to consider before they go see it.

But don’t let that be the only determining factor. This film is filled with some pretty brutal violence from start to finish. Because half the victims are robots, it feels sanitized at times. But when you consider that the creators intended those mechanized characters to feel like real people, it becomes deeply unsettling.

Language is another element. The only mentions of God or Christ that we hear are in the harsh abuses of Their names. The f-word makes a single appearance when a child repeats the words of an adult (which should really make you think about what words your own kids might repeat if they see this film, such as the 35 s-words).

The Creator has a compelling storyline. And star John David Washington is just as entertaining to watch on screen as his famous father (Denzel Washington). But this is a movie you’ll need to consider thoughtfully before making a decision as to whether it’s right for your family.

Emily Tsiao

Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.

Latest Reviews

God’s Not Dead: In God We Trust

Transformers One

The Killer’s Game

Weekly reviews straight to your inbox.

• Back to Focus on the Family Podcast Network

Movie Review: The Creator

This intense, philosophical AI vs. humans sci-fi flick set in the near future asks some surprisingly spiritual questions and packs quite a bit of content into its PG-13 rating.

Read the Plugged In Review

If you've listened to any of our podcasts, please give us your feedback .

Recent Episodes

• Movie Review: God’s Not Dead: In God We Trust
• TV Review: Shadrach
• SiYP: New Senate Bills Protecting Teens
• Pop Culture Remix: The Campaign
• Movie Review: Inside Out 2
• Movie Review: Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
• TV Review: Time Bandits
• SiYP: Digital Self-harm
• Culture Remix: Thank Goodness You’re Here