Movie review
October 16, 2020 · 95 min · PG
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
The story follows resourceful girl Fei Fei who builds a rocket to meet the moon goddess Chang'e after her mom's death, hoping to stop her dad's remarriage and prove true love lasts forever. It features visible girl power with Fei Fei as the smart STEM kid who invents and drives the adventure the whole way through, plus an all-Asian cast that matches the Chinese folklore premise. These sit in the background of a straightforward grief-and-family-healing narrative with no political dialogue, identity sermons, institutional critiques, or activist reframing. The narrative engine stays personal loss, moving on, and expanding family bonds.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Over the Moon.
Woke representation / casting
All-Asian cast naturally fits the Chinese folklore story world and premise with no audience-visible forced diversity or signaling.
Woke political dialogue
None present; story contains no activist or political lines.
Identity-driven story themes
Noticeable girl power via the inventive STEM girl protagonist who builds the rocket and leads the quest, but remains background to universal grief and family themes.
Western institutional / cultural critique
None; traditional folklore elements with no modern activist reframing of patriarchy, colonialism, or Western institutions.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No meaningful backlash claiming the title is too woke or pushes identity politics.
Creator track record context
Writer Audrey Wells had strong-female focus plus The Hate U Give and Alice Wu contributed (queer prior work); supporting context only as it does not strongly align with or dominate this film's content.
Production
