Moms boycott chart-topping movie with 97% on Rotten Tomatoes due to 'overt demonic elements
Finding a way to keep kids entertained in 2025 is a tough one, and while plonking them down in front of an iPad is a tempting solution, others enjoy a family outing to the cinema.
2025 has already been a massive year for family-friendly movies, with the likes of the Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon remakes pulling in big numbers at the box office.
Some supposedly family-friendly movies aren't as wholesome as they're marketed as, and just like The Witches and The Hunchback of Notre Dame faced criticism for their scary scenes, Seth Worley's Sketch is feeling the wrath of Christian moms who are calling for a boycott.
It's not just Christian parents calling out the supposed 'overt demonic themes', with others simply claiming it's too adult for its PG rating.
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Starring Arrested Development's Tony Hale and The Good Place's D'Arcy Carden, Sketch follows a grieving family that’s brought together when the daughter's sketchbook falls into a magical pond and her drawings come to life.
It seems the biggest issue is some of the darker creations that are manifested by the little girl's grief, although others have praised this sensitive handling of the subject matter.
There's plenty of love for Sketch, and with it currently boasting a 97% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes, it looks like distributor Angel Studios has done something right.
Still, the fact that Angel Studios has made a name for itself by promoting Christian themes through the likes of a movie called Sound of Freedom and a TV series called The Chosen, it appears some parents tuned in, not knowing what they were letting themselves in for.
Over on Facebook, one concerned parent wrote: "Some of the animation creatures were DEMONIC looking. These were not shown on the movie trailers that I watched. There were moments of violence that were shockingly evil…awful for anyone, especially children."
Another chimed in saying: "One character in particular is demonic and truly terrifying. Others might be approaching whimsy if it weren’t for the terror soundtrack behind them, but this one key monster is straight up demonic, absolutely creepy and deeply disturbing."
A third complained: "The message is more about demon possession, if you want to have that conversation with your 8-year-old....The 'pain' of losing your mom doesn’t have to be demonic and make a little girl want to draw pictures depicting a scary older 'male' zombie version monster of herself slashing her classmate!"
Despite still boasting a 77% audience score from unverified users, the Rotten Tomatoes reviewers make their feelings clear. There are numerous unhappy adults maintaining they were misled about the Sketch, with some even saying it should be reclassified as PG-13.
It doesn't seem Angel Studios is too fussed about the controversy, and a bit like when 1973's The Exorcist or 1974's The Texas Massacre leaned into the buzz generated by their graphic scenes, the official Sketch account has even posted one scathing review to drum up interest.
We've got a feeling that the angered parents will trigger something of a Streisand Effect with others tempted to flock to Sketch thanks to its more mature themes.