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THE WICKER MAN (2006)

What You Need To Know:

THE WICKER MAN, an American remake of a 1973 British movie, stars Nicolas Cage. Cage plays Edward Malus, a California motorcycle cop haunted by the accidental death of a mother and her daughter. Edward's ex-fiancée, Willow, who mysteriously disappeared, writes to him asking for help in finding her missing daughter, Rowan. Willow is home on Summersisle, an island off the coast of Washington. Willow writes that the people there will not help her find her daughter. Edward barges his way onto the island. The island is run by a group of strange, secretive and hostile women, led by a smug matriarch named Sister Summersisle. Edward finds cryptic clues concerning Rowan's whereabouts, but they don't prepare him for the sinister truth of what's really happening.

The good news about THE WICKER MAN is that it portrays men-hating feminists and pagan religion as evil. The bad news is that the bad guys win in a despicable manner. Also, Edward, the would-be hero, is a gruff, no-nonsense man who gets more abrasive as the women continue to stymie his investigation. Finally, THE WICKER MAN contains some foul language, including a few strong profanities.

Content:

(OO, B, FeFe, PaPa, FRFRFR, C, LL, VV, N, A, D, MM) Strong demonic, occult worldview where the villains eventually win the day and overcome goodness, mitigated by implied moral elements suggesting that men-hating feminists and ancient pagan rituals and religion are evil, plus many false pagan religious ideas and symbols are displayed or advocated during the movie (including worship of nature and worship of multiple gods and "the Great Mother Goddess"), and some Christian references and elements include man cries out desperately to God but to no avail and evil pagans have destroyed a Christian church, burying the statue of Jesus in a watery crypt; 10 obscenities (including one "f" word), four strong profanities, five light profanities, and man desperately cries to God three times but to no avail; brief strong violence includes punching, fighting, kicking, man's eyes and mouth bloodied and sewn together, scary dream sequences with scary dead bodies, truck hits car head on and man visualizes and dreams about it later, burning car explodes, allergic man knocked out by bee venom from multiple stings, and vicious human sacrifice; no sex, but some kissing and men pick up two girls in bar; brief upper male nudity; alcohol use; smoking; and, miscellaneous immorality such as deceitful plan is successful.

More Detail:

Note: The following review may contain spoilers.

THE WICKER MAN is an American remake of a 1973 British movie. In the remake, Nicolas Cage stars as Edward Malus, a California motorcycle cop is haunted by the accidental death of a mother and her daughter. Edward’s ex-fiancée, Willow, who mysteriously left him years ago, writes a letter to him asking for help in finding her missing daughter, Rowan. Willow is back home on Summersisle, an island off the coast of Washington. Willow says the people there will not help her find her daughter.

Edward barges his way onto the island to help Willow. The island seems to be run by a group of strange, secretive and hostile women led by a smug matriarch named Sister Summersisle. Edward finds several cryptic clues concerning Rowan’s whereabouts, but none of the clues can prepare him for the sinister truth of what’s really happening.

The good news about THE WICKER MAN is that it portrays men-hating feminists and pagan religion as evil. The bad news, however, is that the bad guys win. Also, Edward, the would-be hero and knight in shining armor, is a gruff, no-nonsense man who gets more abrasive as the women on the island continue to stymie his investigation. Finally, THE WICKER MAN contains strong, sometimes scary violence and some foul language, including a few strong profanities.

If you’ve seen the original movie, it’s hard to say how this new version stacks up against it. That said, the new movie seems to be more silly than creepy. For one thing, the villains seem so smug that they are more like caricatures than real threats. At least both movies show the true evil nature of most forms of ancient paganism. Both movies, however, have disappointing endings because the bad guys win the day in a violent, despicable, tragic manner. The original movie made one want to leap into the screen, kill all the villains and save the day. The remake is more likely to provoke yawns.

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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.