Movie review
September 16, 2016 · 104 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Mr. Church is a 2016 drama about a black cook named Henry Joseph Church who is hired to help a young white girl named Charlie and her mother battling cancer in 1960s Los Angeles. What starts as a six-month job turns into a 15-year family bond filled with cooking, storytelling, and quiet support through hard times. The story comes from the writer’s real life and stays focused on personal kindness and loyalty with no political messages, identity lectures, or social activism in the plot, dialogue, or marketing.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Mr. Church.
Woke representation / casting
The casting of Eddie Murphy as the devoted black cook fits the true-story premise and 1960s-1980s Los Angeles setting with no audience-visible forced diversity, race swaps, or identity signaling.
Woke political dialogue
No activist, political, or social-justice talk appears anywhere in the story or characters.
Identity-driven story themes
The cross-racial friendship is shown as a simple human bond through daily life, not centered on race, identity, or group politics.
Western institutional / cultural critique
The film offers no modern critiques of patriarchy, capitalism, traditional roles, or Western institutions; it highlights personal loyalty and quiet strength instead.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant; this is an original story based on the writer’s personal experiences.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
A handful of 2016 critics criticized the servant portrayal as stereotypical, but no complaints accused the film of being woke or pushing left-wing content; the debate stayed on the other side.
Creator track record context
Key creators have careers in personal stories and mainstream entertainment with no cited history of activist or identity-driven projects.
Production
