DAVID (2025)

Genre: Animation/Adventure
Director: Phil Cunningham, Brent Dawes
Cast: Phil Wickham, Brandon Engman, Brian Stivale
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Rating: PG (Some Violence)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 25 December 2025

Synopsis: From the songs of his mother’s heart to the whispers of a faithful God, David’s story begins in quiet devotion. When the giant Goliath rises to terrorize a nation, a young shepherd armed with only a sling, a few stones, and unshakable faith steps forward. Pursued by power and driven by purpose, his journey tests the limits of loyalty, love, and courage—culminating in a battle not just for a crown, but for the soul of a kingdom.

Movie Review:

For its intended audience, ‘David’ needs no introduction. The story of a shepherd whom the prophet Samuel had anointed as a boy to become King of Israel is one of the more familiar tales from the Bible, not least for the well-known fable of David versus Goliath where the young David defeated the giant Philistine champion Goliath with just his faith and a slingshot.

So rather than trying to be too clever, co-directors and co-writers Brent Dawes and Phil Cunningham focus on telling David’s story faithfully from the Books of Samuel. Their story begins with David (voiced by Brandon Engman) tending after his village’s flock of sheep, where he displays both courage and compassion defending the flock against a lion and then freeing the lion after it falls off the cliff and gets trapped in a rock formation below. That opening scene foretells his calling as a shepherd, pronounced by the visit of the prophet Samuel (Brian Stivale) to his family in their Bethlehem home.

Not long after, David is escorted by the palace guards to the palace of King Saul (Adam Michael Gold), who has grown cantankerous obsessing over whether God will secure his victory over the Philistines and the Amalekites. With a lyre and the voice of God, David manages to soothe his troubled soul and in so doing, earn his trust and place in the kingdom alongside Saul next to Saul’s son Jonathan. The first act chronicles the father-son bond that develops between Saul and David, culminating not surprisingly in the battle of David versus Goliath that rekindles the Israelites’ faith.

In contrast, the next two acts details their tragic fallout after a raid on a nearby Amalekite site leads Saul to recall how God had stripped him of his kingship after he disobeyed God’s orders to slay the Amalekites years ago and how David is the prophesied King. By then, David is already a young adult (now voiced by Phil Wickham), and together with his family and followers, is driven out of Bethlehem in order to escape Saul’s persecution. Even so, David harbours no malice against Saul, and as Scripture would have it, will go on to lead an uprising of the Israelites against the Amalekites in the desert and claim his rightful throne as King.

Though familiar, there is much to take away from this retelling. Arriving right on time for Christmas, it is first and foremost an affirmation of the power of faith, of believing that God will set out to protect those whom he has anointed as his own. It is also a story of surrender, of surrendering one’s will, thirst for glory and power, and even mortal fears, because these things are ultimately ephemeral. And last but not least, it is a story of selfless love, of what it means to love thy enemy, as David did by sparing Saul’s life when he could have easily taken it in the cave.

It doesn’t hurt that ‘David’ doesn’t simply aim to preach to the converted, but also to be accessible to the general public. Despite hailing from the little-known Cape Town-based Sunrise Animation Studios, ‘David’ is surprisingly handsome to look at, nicely detailed, brightly coloured and pacey enough with a good mix of exposition and catchy tunes. There is a fine line between religious fervour and restraint, and ‘David’ strikes a good balance between being preachy and being persuasive.

At its heart though, ‘David’ remains a Biblical story, and is clearly intended for the faith-based audience during this Christmas season. It is no Disney or Dreamworks Animation, but at the same time, it hardly needs to be – for what it sets out to achieve, and that is, to retell a familiar story about the power of faith, ‘David’ does so beautifully enough to win your hearts, your minds and even your soul..

Movie Rating:

(A familiar, but no less uplifting, affirmation of the power of faith, especially for the converted)

Review by Gabriel Chong