Ballerina Christian review
The film is another extension of the John Wick universe—and yes, it has everything you expect: slick action, jaw-dropping fight scenes, and the story of the daughter of a rich family who becomes a deadly assassin. Ana de Armas is in the lead—as Eve Macarro. Though her name is a ballerina, she is not limited to the stage. She is equally graceful on the battlefield… just a little more lethal.
The location is Rome. The atmosphere is dark. The past is a little unclear. And when her father is murdered, something breaks inside her. What happens after that… it doesn’t feel like revenge; it feels like a silent ritual. A revenge in which every step is choreographed with blood, bullets and pain—just like a stage, except that instead of music there is gunfire.
But if you look at it with a Christian lens, you will feel an emptiness. The whole story revolves around revenge. And what does the Bible say? “Don’t take revenge… it is mine, then you will avenge it.” Romans 12:19. There is no grace here, no way of healing, no redemption. Only more pain in the answers to the pain. The film does not say that forgiveness is the strength—it says, “Are you broken? Then break everyone.”
If we talk from the point of view of filmmaking—yes, visually the film is tight. The action scenes are quite crisp, the framing is stylish, Ana has put her heart and soul into her performance. There is a bit of nostalgia too—John Wick himself appears in a cameo (obviously Keanu), Winston and Charon also appear, old memories are revived a bit.
But in between all this there is an emotional empty space that just doesn’t get filled. In between all this beauty there is a sticky feeling like a patch.
If seen from a spiritual angle, this film is literally pitch-black. A world where divine justice exists only in stories, and a person has to take everything himself—with a gun in his hand. There is no forgiveness here. The film weighs on the heart, but never makes you feel light. There is only survival. There is only a cycle. And that’s it, everything got entangled in that.
Get a PG-13 rating, but a warning is important—the violence is quite hard-hitting. There is some disturbing imagery, and the language is not soft at all. Not for kids at all, and if you are a little emotionally sensitive, then think beforehand.
If you want to watch it, you can watch it if you like the action genre. If you can see it as a fictional study of grief and trauma, then you might get a little interested. But if you are looking for even a little hope, or mercy, or some spiritual arc in a story – frankly, Ballerina does not figure in that list. The visuals are gorgeous, emotions are high, but empty inside. Like a ballet is going on, but the music has stopped. Just gunshots and silence.
