Onward (Pixar, 2020) is the fantasy film set in a suburban world where magic has been replaced by modern convenience. Two elf brothers — Ian and Barley Lightfoot — attempt to use a last remnant of magic to bring back their late father for one day. It is Pixar's most emotionally direct film about fatherlessness and one of the most affecting portrayals of grief about a parent who died before a child knew them.
Onward is about Ian Lightfoot, who was born after his father Wilden died and has grown up longing for the father he never knew. The quest is Ian's attempt to literally bring his father back for one day — to ask the questions he has always wanted to ask, to feel what it is like to have a father present. This is one of the most honest explorations of fatherlessness in family film.
Psalm 68:5's description of God as "a father to the fatherless" speaks to exactly the longing Onward depicts. The film does not go there theologically, but Christian parents can — and should.
Onward's resolution reframes the whole film: Ian realizes that the father figure he has been longing for has been present in his brother Barley the whole time. The film ends not with Ian getting the literal father he wanted but discovering that the love and presence he longed for was already available to him. This is emotionally generous and genuinely moving.
One element worth noting: a female police officer character mentions her girlfriend in passing — the first explicitly LGBT character in a Pixar film. It is a single brief line that does not affect the story. Families with concerns about any LGBT content should be aware it exists.
Onward's magic system is presented as a lost skill rather than spiritual power — more like a forgotten technology than occult practice. The film's fantasy elements serve the emotional quest rather than presenting a spiritual system. No sexual content, no profanity. One brief LGBT mention as noted above. Appropriate for ages 7 and up. Onward scores 68/100 — Mixed.
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