About.com Rating



Bottom line:: The exquisitely animated Secret of Kells presents a mystical story set in 8th century Ireland. The film is rich in content and quality, but some scenes may be very frightening for young children.
MPAA Rating: NR
Genre: Animation/fantasy/adventure
Guide Age Recommendation: 7+
Runtime: 75 minutes

The Secret of Kells - Overview

It's 8th century Ireland, and times are dangerous because Vikings are invading the land.

Young Brendan has been living with his uncle, Abbot Cellach, in a monastery called Kells. Abbot Cellach is determined to build a wall around the abbey that will be strong enough to keep the Vikings out. The problem is, the wall also keeps Brendan in.

Brendan longs to explore, and his sense of adventure is heightened when Brother Aidan and his cat Pangur Bán come to the monastery. Brother Aidan has been working on the legendary Book of Iona, and illuminated manuscript of great importance. He begins to teach Brendan, who falls in love with the work and desires nothing more than to help complete it.

When Brendan leaves the monastery walls in search of nuts to make ink for the book, he meets a wood fairy named Aisling. Later, Brendan finds out that Aidan needs the Eye of Collum-Cille to finish the manuscript, and the only way it can be obtained is to take it from the dreadful Crom Cruach, a Celtic pagan deity.

With help from Aisling, and depsite his uncle's orders not to leave the abbey, Brendan is at last able to obtain what he needs.

He returns to help Aidan finish the manuscript. Unfortunately, Vikings attack the village and Cellach's wall does little to hold them back. Aidan's life, and the lives of those around him, will be changed forever.

The Secret of Kells - Guide Review for Parents

This fictional imagining of how the real Book of Kells could have been created captivates audiences with a mystical tale full of peril, heart and hope. Celtic-looking patterns decorate the scenery and the animation is simply entrancing. The film truly transports audiences to another place and time and the story is both meaningful and in many ways historical.

After enjoying this movie as a family, the first thing we did was look up The Book of Kells and read about it. The book is an illuminated manuscript containing the Four Gospels and has since become one of Ireland's most treasured artifacts. We studied illumination, and the kids tried creating their own illuminated page by writing a story and then decorating the page with intricate designs and using a gold or yellow crayon to make it look like gold was used in the decoration. They had a great time doing this, and we also looked up more information about Ireland and showed them how to find the country on a globe.

All of this was inspired by their excitement about the movie. They were absolutely mesmerized by the story and the animation, as were we. The movie does contain a couple of scenes that could be very frightening for young kids. The Vikings attack the abbey, people are killed and one main character is hit with an arrow. The vikings are drawn to look more like supernatural monsters than humans, and they are very intimidating and seem all powerful. Also (SPOILER ALERT), Brendan's battle with Crom Cruach is quite suspenseful, but the more disturbing part is seeing Aisling consumed by the evil and her face turn skeletal (we later find out that she is okay, but we only see her in wolf form after that). The movie is animated and geared toward families, so the violence isn't gruesome and it has a positive ending. Still, some of those scenes get pretty intense for young viewers.

The Secret of Kells - Bonus Features

• Notes from the Master Illuminators: Audio commentary by the director, co-director, and art director
• The Voices of Ireland: Voice recording sessions with Brendan Gleeson, Evan McGuire, Christen Mooney, and Mick Lally
• Director's presentation of pre-production sketches and inspirational images
• Pencil to picture
• Early concept trailer
• Aisling at the Oscars
• Theatrical trailer

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.