Christian parents finally get a big-screen Bible adventure worth watching with David

The new David film is no Prince of Egypt, but it IS a major milestone in Christian led animation.

When it comes to Christian kids TV shows and movies that make an impact, you can probably count them on one hand (VeggieTales, The Miracle Maker, Bible Man if you’re feeling nostalgic).

So when the summer holidays roll around; parents, carers and ailing youth leaders often have to look to films made by secular studios and roll their sleeves up and dig some Christian themes out of the latest offering.

The Christian film industry has been sorely lacking a property that you don’t need to preface with the qualifier: “It’s good… for a Christian film.”

As a gateway into the Bible for children, and even teenagers, I think David does a commendable job

Enter, stage left… David, the feature-length adventure musical adapting King David’s journey from his anointing as a shepherd to his coronation as King of Israel. (And if you’re moaning about spoilers… the story’s been out for a few millennia.)

Produced by faith filled Sunrise Studios and distributed by the faith-adjacent Angel Studios, we finally seem to have a film that can go toe-to-toe with the secular Goliaths (pun intended) of the animation industry.

This is most apparent in the production values. The movie opens on the expertly rendered hilly plains of Israel, so convincing they look like they’ve been lifted straight from the Israeli tourism board. The grass is crisp, the mountains craggy, and the trees don’t have a leaf out of place. It genuinely wouldn’t feel out of place in Disney’s catalogue.

And the comparisons don’t end there. The film is a musical boasting more than ten original songs. My particular favourites were ‘Follow the Light’, which makes full use of David’s voice actor Phil Wickham’s incredible vocals, and ‘Shalom’, which you could easily imagine being sung in a Pentecostal church on a Sunday morning. Which makes sense, as most of the songs were written and composed by Jonas Myrin, the Swedish songwriter who co-wrote a little-known tune called ’10,000 Reasons’.

Speaking of Phil Wickham, I’m always nervous when someone is attached to a project more for their name recognition than their acting prowess, but I’m happy to say that, beyond the American accent (more on that later), Wickham carries the lead role with distinction.

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Brandon Engman, voiced the young David, who occasionally left me yearning for a mute button with his attempt at portraying a squeaky, nasal teenager.

Which leads me to what I think didn’t work quite so well: the adaptation of the story.

The film attempts to retell David’s life for a younger audience, but unfortunately David’s story contains some pretty heavy subject matter. Ironically, it actually serves the narrative better if you don’t know the biblical account, because I found myself anticipating certain events that never came.

It keeps the greatest hits—his anointing, Goliath, cutting Saul’s cloak—but I was disappointed that other episodes from David’s life, such as feigning insanity, his defection to the Philistines, and several key relationships, were either adapted to be more family-friendly or omitted altogether. Every time that happened, it pulled me out of the film.

And to anyone who thinks you have to take the edge off biblical stories to make them accessible to children, I’d simply reply: The Prince of Egypt didn’t seem to have any trouble.

I’d happily recommend it to anyone looking for something they can put on for young people without worrying about the content

That 1998 classic tackles death, genocide, manslaughter and even implies trafficking and sexual slavery, yet it’s still considered one of the greatest animated family films ever made.

The makers of David seem to follow the modern studio safe approach a little too closely. They sanitise the story enough that parents won’t be clutching their pearls, but in doing so they also remove much of the edge—and that’s often exactly what older children and teenagers connect with, even if they’d never admit it.

Which leads me to my second biggest issue: David himself.

The film goes out of its way to present him as a golden child. Sure, he’s a little impetuous, but that mostly adds to his charm. It becomes even more noticeable after the musical time skip, where we’re suddenly presented with what looks like a European supermodel, complete with designer stubble, flowing hazel hair and an angelic American singing voice, starkly contrasting with the rest of the seemingly Hebrew cast.

the film’s central message still shines through: What are the Goliaths in your life, and have you invited God into the battle?

Combined with Wickham’s polished vocals, David sometimes feels less like a flawed biblical hero and more like an airbrushed ideal, an almost impossible benchmark for young viewers.

With that said, one relationship the film handles particularly well is Saul.

His portrayal is arguably even more nuanced than the biblical account, showing the pain and turmoil that accompany every bad decision and every step he takes away from God. Despite the softened storytelling elsewhere, the film’s central message still shines through: What are the Goliaths in your life, and have you invited God into the battle?

The film frames David’s decision to attempt to solve problems in his own strength, leads to one of his few genuine failures portrayed by the film, and by the climax, he finally learns to trust not in his own wit, strategy or strength, but in God.

As a gateway into the Bible for children, and even teenagers, I think David does a commendable job. It can comfortably hold its own against many modern Disney films as a faith-based alternative in terms of song, and spectacle, and I hope it becomes the new benchmark for Christian animation.

I’d happily recommend it to anyone looking for something they can put on for young people without worrying about the content.

But if its ambition was to become another Prince of Egypt—a film beloved by adults, children, Christians and non-Christians alike—then, unfortunately, it’s still more than a slingshot’s throw away.