
Movie review
December 1, 2022 · 106 min · NR
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for I Heard the Bells.
Woke representation / casting
Period-accurate white cast for 1860s New England family; no forced diversity, swaps, or signaling.
Woke political dialogue
No modern activist dialogue; story stays on personal grief and faith.
Identity-driven story themes
Centers solely on Christian redemption and hope; no identity politics.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Promotes traditional Christian faith and family; no activist attacks on patriarchy, whiteness, capitalism, or Western institutions.
Woke character or canon changes
Review
This 2022 faith-based movie has zero woke content. It sticks to the true historical story of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow losing his wife in a fire, watching his son get wounded in the Civil War, falling into grief and doubt, then rediscovering Christian faith on Christmas morning and writing the carol “I Heard the Bells.” The entire narrative pushes rekindled faith, family, and hope in God with no identity politics, no activist sermons, no modern framing, and no girlboss or diversity lectures.
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Complete absence of woke backlash.
Creator track record context
Sight & Sound produces explicitly Christian biblical and historical content.
Production