Movie review
December 2, 2016 · 133 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Promise.
Woke representation / casting
Famous actors from various backgrounds play historical characters in the Ottoman Empire setting; no audience-visible push for diversity or complaints about forced choices.
Woke political dialogue
Some talk about the war and killings fits the 1915 time period but stays historical with no modern activist language or lectures.
Identity-driven story themes
Armenian characters face ethnic attacks during a real genocide, shown through personal stories and romance rather than current identity politics.
Western institutional / cultural critique
The film shows the Ottoman government ordering mass killings as a historical fact from that era; it does not critique modern institutions, gender roles, or Western society.
Review
The movie follows a young Armenian medical student who travels to the city and falls into a love triangle with an Armenian artist and an American journalist. This happens right as the Ottoman Empire begins mass killings and deportations of Armenians in 1915, known as the Armenian Genocide. The story uses the personal romance to show the real historical events and suffering. No modern identity themes, activist dialogue, or social critiques appear in the narrative.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Faced review bombing from genocide deniers, but zero complaints treated the film as woke or complained about identity or social agendas.
Creator track record context
Terry George has made other genocide films like Hotel Rwanda, which matches this project's historical focus but shows no modern activist pattern.
Production
