Unexpectedly profound animated film — its treatment of mortality, fear, and authentic living is among the most philosophically serious in recent family cinema.
The Last Wish does something almost no animated family film attempts: it makes Death a character — a whistling wolf who hunts Puss specifically because Puss has wasted eight of his nine lives through recklessness. Death is not frightening in a horror sense; he is depicted as implacable and fair. He comes for those who don't value what they've been given.
This is theologically serious. Psalm 90:12's instruction to "number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" is essentially what the film dramatizes. Puss's entire arc is learning to live with full awareness of mortality rather than suppressing that awareness through bravado. The film argues that genuine living requires honest reckoning with death — not morbidly but wisely.
The Last Wish's deepest insight is that Puss's recklessness — which looks like courage — is actually fear. He burns through lives precisely because he cannot face the weight of mortality. The film distinguishes between the fear that drives escapism and the courage that comes from honestly confronting what frightens you and choosing to act anyway.
2 Timothy 1:7's description of "a spirit not of fear but of power, love, and self-discipline" describes the transformation Puss undergoes. He doesn't lose his courage — he discovers what real courage is.
The Last Wish's animation style — inspired by Into the Spider-Verse with a watercolor aesthetic and expressive stylization — is genuinely beautiful and appropriate for the fairy-tale source material. The action sequences are inventive and kinetic. This is not a cash-grab sequel; it is a film that took its material seriously.
The film's Death character and some action sequences may be briefly frightening for very young children. No sexual content, no profanity. The fairy-tale violence is stylized rather than realistic. Appropriate from approximately age 6+ with parental presence for younger viewers. An excellent film for older children and adults to watch together and discuss mortality and courage.
Children's media shapes formation in ways adult media does not — children are not yet equipped with the critical distance to evaluate what they're consuming. The question is not just "is this harmful?" but "what is this teaching?" GodlyScore evaluates children's content with heightened sensitivity to family depiction, LGBT normalization, spiritual content, and whether the overall tone encourages virtue or passivity. Score: 80/100 Spiritually Safe.
See our Christian TV Reviews hub for similar content evaluated with the same framework. Common Sense Media provides detailed age-by-age content guidance.