Is Disney’s “Soul” Good for Yours? (A Bible-based, Christian Movie Review)

 

When I saw that Disney was bringing out a movie called “Soul” that was about human souls and showed their idea of what happens to them when they die, I thought, “This is probably not going to be good.” Concerned about the impact it could have, I watched it. I was right. It’s not good.

I’m not one of those people who are against all Disney movies (see my mostly positive review of Frozen 2 here). And sometimes something I don’t think I’m going to like, I end up liking (see my review of Hamilton here). But in the case of the Disney movie “Soul,” I suspected ahead of time that I might not like it, and watching it confirmed my suspicion.

First, and this is very subjective, I didn’t find the story and storytelling nearly as captivating as most Pixar movies I have watched. It just wasn’t that good or interesting. Still, I suspect that many people will watch it. It was released on Disney Plus on Christmas day. Many families are eager for new stuff to watch because of the reduced entertainment output during the pandemic. Disney/Pixar films have consistently been well made and loved by many, so my guess is that while this will not be as popular as Frozen, a lot of people are going to watch it. And many people who are not on guard will likely be at least a little bit influenced by Soul’s worldview. And that concerns me.

Four concerning issues with Disney’s Soul

Disney’s “Soul” is not set in a make believe world like the world of “Cars” or “Frozen” or “Toy Story.” It is set in the real world, but also shows human souls before and after people die. That makes this movie theological by nature. Also, while practically nobody believes that the types of things that happen in movies like the Harry Potter series are real, and people know that Stars Wars is in a make believe galaxy, many people do believe in things that are roughly similar to what is shown in “Soul.” In fact, if the goal of Soul was to put common, popular, street level spiritual beliefs consistent with pantheism and some new age views into a Disney film, I would say they succeeded. Here are 4 specific examples:

1. Soul is wrong about what happens before you are conceived

A major premise of Soul is that our souls exist in some type of heavenly realm (they call it “the great before”) before we are born. When we are born (or conceived, Soul does not get into that much detail), supposedly our souls leave this realm and enter our bodies for life on earth. According to Soul, some of our attributes and personality traits are determined by things that happen to our souls before they come to earth.

The idea of pre-existent souls is popular, but completely unbiblical. God’s Word never indicates that our souls existed before we were conceived. In fact, the Bible indicates that the ONLY person who existed in Heaven before He was born was Jesus:

CSB17 John 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven-- the Son of Man.

Only “the one,” who is Jesus, “the Son of Man,” descended from heaven. The rest of us begin life on earth.

Also, Jesus points out that He existed before Abraham. This means Jesus is claiming the He existed before He was born. His Jewish opponents correctly interpret that as meaning that Jesus is claiming to be God. No one else besides Jesus existed before being born. Jesus’ statement would not make as much sense if EVERYBODY, including Abraham, existed before they were born:

CSB17 John 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am." 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple.

Does it matter if someone believes that their soul existed in some spiritual realm before they were conceived? Yes, because such belief can easily lead to other wrong beliefs. An example is believing that things that happened to your soul before you were conceived are impacting your character and life today. That in turn leads to unbiblical and unhelpful (even dangerous and sinful) ways of trying to deal with our problems. This belief can also erode the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in our hearts in minds.

2. Soul is wrong about what happens after you die

In the movie Soul, it appears that all souls after they die ascend a staircase towards a big glowing ball of light. At some point they float into the light, but they also seem to lose their individual personhood as they turn into round balls of light and get absorbed into the big ball of light. There is no judgment for how each person lived their lives. Everyone gets the same fate. There is no need to have faith in Jesus for salvation. This worldview may be appealing to people who don’t want to face judgment, but it gives a false hope that is contrary to the Bible.

The Bible teaches very little about what happens to our souls in between death and resurrection (I have a post on the intermediate state here). Instead, the Bible focuses our hope on the resurrection and life on a New Earth with God and with all who have been saved through faith in Christ. We do not lose our individual personhood and get absorbed into a ball of light. We will live forever with bodies meant to enjoy a perfect earth without anymore disease, suffering, death, or evil. That’s way better than Soul’s vision of the afterlife. More importantly, it is true.

CSB17 2 Peter 3:13 But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

3. Soul has quantum field spirit beings that fit in with pantheism

Very shortly after Joe’s soul falls into “the great before” (the spiritual realm where souls live before being sent to earth), he meets some type of spiritual being who oversees the souls. This being is not all-knowing. It is a little angel-like, yet it is not like the angels in the Bible. When Joe asks “Who are you?,” the being answers, “I am the coming together of all quantized fields in the universe.” And when one of the spirit beings catches up to Joe to bring him back to “the Great Beyond” he does not tell Joe that Joe broke any of God’s laws (there are no such things in Soul), but that he tried to “cheat the universe.”

While some of this is intended to by funny, it points to a pantheistic worldview as opposed to a biblical worldview. In the Bible, the universe and all angels and spiritual beings other than God Himself are created by God. But in Soul there is no God, and the spiritual beings that do exist are part of the universe. The idea that the universe itself is basically God, or that God exists in the form of the universe, is a pantheistic idea. This idea is not developed in Soul, but Soul is consistent with worldviews that fit under the broad umbrella of pantheism.

Although relatively few people may identify themselves as “pantheist,” this worldview, or at least significant elements of it is much more common than you might think. It is closely related to materialism, as both views don’t believe in anything or anyone (like the God of the Bible) as existing before, separate from, or outside of the universe itself. Pantheism is basically materialism with an often vague concept of the universe having something spiritual about it thrown in.

Pantheism is not at all consistent with what the Bible teaches about God. The Bible teaches that God created the universe and is a personal God who is intimately involved with, yet still distinguishable from, His creation. Pantheism is also not consistent with our current scientific understanding of the universe. There is a lot of evidence that scientists believe point to the fact that our universe had a beginning. That means that something (or Someone!) other than the universe had to be the cause of the universe coming into existence. This is why pantheistic ideas have often historically been connected with the idea of a universe that has always existed.

This fundamental issue is highlighted by the first verse of God’s Word:

CSB17 Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

4. In Disney’s Soul, “Salvation” comes though occult/new age practices

In Soul, there is no indication that we need to be saved from our sins. This is contrary to the Christian message, including the good news that we just celebrated at Christmas:

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21 CSB17)

Nevertheless, there is a type of salvation in Soul. When people become obsessed with something (like sales or sports or just about anything) and distracted from living life, their souls become lost and they need to be saved. Who saves them? In Soul, it is not Jesus. It is a group of self-proclaimed “mystics” who through some type of ceremonies have gained the ability to leave their bodies on earth and travel to the domain of lost souls. There they travel around in a ship with tie dye sails and a peace sign anchor rescuing souls. One of these mystics is from Tibet, one is a “shamanic healer meditating in Berkley, California,” one says his body is in a trance, and their leader is a weird guy standing on a street corner in New York who talks about astrology and leads them in what seems to be occult rituals. In Soul, there is no need for Jesus to save you, the New Age-ish mystics and occult practitioners take care of that.

Although Soul presents this stuff in a cartoon setting that is meant to be somewhat humorous, in real life participating in those type of rituals (and people really do) goes against strong warnings in Scripture. We lived in Indonesia for fourteen years where occult rituals and practices are far more common (or at least far more openly practiced). They consistently lead to demonic oppression. This stuff is not funny.

Conclusion

Disney’s Soul is not good for your soul, or for your children’s. It packages a non-biblical pantheistic worldview and support for mystical, occult-like practices into a movie made for families with children that was released on Christmas day. If you have already watched Soul with your family, I recommend discussing how it is different from what God reveals in the Bible. If you haven’t watched it, you’re not missing anything. May God give us discernment and strength in these dark days. If you focus on God’s truth in the Bible and trust Jesus, you will find peace and meaning. God bless you.

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .