The Devil's Advocate
HeartGuard score
How suitable a title is for Christian viewers, from 0 to 100. It weighs the content meters and the worldview.
- 80–100Recommended
- 60–79Watch with care
- 35–59Think it through
- 15–34Strong cautionThis film
- 0–14Not recommended
HeartGuard score
How suitable a title is for Christian viewers, from 0 to 100. It weighs the content meters and the worldview.
- 80–100Recommended
- 60–79Watch with care
- 35–59Think it through
- 15–34Strong cautionThis film
- 0–14Not recommended
Worldview score
What the story celebrates or condemns.
Why 0 for this film
At heart it is a moral fable: vanity and ambition destroy a marriage, and the hero finally uses his free will to refuse the devil. However, it lingers on sin in graphic detail, gives Satan the most compelling speeches against God, and leaves the question of temptation unresolved.
- +2Affirms faithPresents faith in God positively and as true
- +1Positive valuesHonesty, sacrifice and family win out
- 0Mixed or neutralThis filmNo clear stance
- −1AmbivalentShows sin without judging it either way
- −2Glamorises sinMakes sin look attractive and rewarding
Age guide
How suitable this film is for each age group.
Why 18+ for this film
Full nudity and strong sexual content, pervasive strong language, a graphic suicide, a rape and sustained supernatural horror are the main concerns. Frequent misuse of God's name adds to this.
- Under 8No
- Ages 8–12No
- Ages 13–15No
- Ages 16–17Wait
- AdultsCheck first
A stylish supernatural thriller that uses the devil running a law firm to expose vanity and the cost of winning at all costs. Its point is serious, but the strong sexual content, full nudity, graphic suicide and pervasive language make it for adults only.
Watch guide
What's in it?
Language~44 f-words, crude
Strong language runs throughout, with dozens of f-words plus frequent other profanity. There is very crude sexual talk, including graphic courtroom questioning and boasts about sex.
BlasphemyFrequent, plus mockery
Around two dozen or more uses of God's and Jesus' names as oaths. Near the climax the devil gives an extended, vulgar speech mocking God as a cruel prankster; the story frames it as Satan's lie, but it is lengthy and pointed.
Sex and nudityFull nudity, sex scenes
A married couple's sex scene, in which the husband fantasises about another woman, includes nudity. There is topless nudity in a changing-room scene. The climax includes full-frontal female nudity as the devil tries to seduce Kevin into incest. Sexual violence against Mary Ann is described and briefly glimpsed, and a wall sculpture of writhing bodies comes alive.
RelationshipsAdultery, rape, incest plot
A client's adultery is central to a murder trial, and Kevin is drawn towards a colleague while his marriage collapses through neglect. His wife is raped by Milton. The climax is a scheme for Kevin to father a child with his half-sister. All of this is presented as destructive and evil.
ViolenceBloody, two suicides
Mary Ann self-harms and then cuts her own throat in front of her husband, shown in some detail. A man is beaten to death in a park by figures who are revealed as demonic. There are crime-scene photographs, a subway knife threat, and Kevin shooting Milton and then turning the gun on himself.
Frightening scenesSustained supernatural horror
Faces morph into demonic visages. A nightmare shows a baby playing with bloody organs, and hallucinations steadily mount. The finale is an apocalyptic confrontation with the devil, with flames and a mental breakdown in a psychiatric ward. The dread is sustained rather than relying on jump scares.
Drugs and alcoholSocial drinking, smoking
There is celebratory drinking, champagne, wine at a lunch and a cigarette. Cocaine is mentioned in passing as part of a past rehab and as one of the devil's temptations. Drunkenness is not glamorised.
AttitudesCorruption, shown as damning
A lawyer knowingly frees a likely child abuser and a murderer out of pride. The firm launders money and brokers arms, and a neighbour makes a racist remark. The film frames vanity and amoral ambition as the path to ruin.
OccultSatan central, exposed
The head of the law firm is revealed as Satan, and the story involves demonic figures, a defended animal-sacrifice ritual, a hallucinatory supernatural menace and a plot to father the Antichrist. The devil is shown as real and seductive, but his scheme is framed as evil and ends in ruin.
- To knowContent to know about
- DiscussWorth discussing
- 0:01
Child abuse testimony
A young girl gives detailed courtroom testimony about being sexually abused by her teacher. Kevin then discredits her under cross-examination.
- 1:01
Sexual content and nudity
Kevin and Mary Ann have sex with nudity, while he imagines a colleague in his wife's place.
- 1:18
Disturbing imagery
Mary Ann has a nightmare about a baby playing with bloody organs. She is left distraught and believes she has been made infertile.
- 1:40
Sexual violence described
Mary Ann is found naked and self-harmed in a church. She tells Kevin that Milton raped her, and he refuses to believe her.
- 1:52
Suicide shown
In a psychiatric hospital, Mary Ann locks herself in a room and takes her own life in front of Kevin.
- 2:04
The devil's lie about God
Milton, now revealed as Satan, delivers a long and crude speech portraying God as cruel and absent, and casting himself as humanity's true friend.
- 2:12
Nudity, incest plot, suicide
Milton tries to push Kevin into sex with his half-sister, with full nudity. Kevin refuses by shooting himself.
How to play
- 1. Draw a cardOne person reads the question out loud.
- 2. Everyone answersThere are no wrong answers. Listen before you reply.
- 3. Pass it onThe next person draws, until the deck is done.
Faith & story
What does it say?
What's it about?The plot, without the ending
Kevin Lomax is a young Florida defence lawyer who has never lost a case. A powerful Manhattan firm headed by the charismatic John Milton recruits him, and he and his wife Mary Ann move into a luxurious apartment and a world of wealth and influence. As Kevin takes on a high-profile murder trial, he spends less and less time at home, and Mary Ann begins to see terrifying things. His devout mother fears New York is no place for them. Kevin starts to suspect that his success, and his employer, are not what they seem.
Through a faith lensHow it connects to the Bible
Beneath its horror trappings, this is a parable about pride. Milton never forces Kevin's hand. He offers opportunities and flattery, and lets Kevin's love of winning do the rest, which echoes James's picture of desire giving birth to sin and sin to death. The film borrows openly from Scripture. The mother quotes Revelation's warning about Babylon and Jesus' words about the wide gate, and a revival sings Romans 16's promise that God will crush Satan. Tellingly, the devil himself quotes Jesus' words about sheep among wolves, a reminder that the enemy can use holy words for unholy ends. Milton's climactic speech, in which God is a sadistic prankster and Satan the true humanist, fits Jesus' description of the devil as a liar from the beginning. Viewers should hear it as the villain's deception, not the film's verdict, though it is given the most eloquent lines. The film frames resisting evil as a matter of free will alone, and Christians will notice that repentance, grace and help from God are absent from it. It does make a sober point: the battle with pride is never won once and for all, and those who think they stand should take heed lest they fall. The film shows sin's wages vividly, yet it has nothing to say about the gift of God.
Fruit of the SpiritWhich fruit does it show?
2 out of 9 fruits ripe in this film
Ripe grapes are shown in the film, buds are missing
- Patience
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Gentleness
- Self-control
The film works largely as a portrait of the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21. It shows sexual immorality and sensuality at the firm, the idolatry of money and success, an animal-sacrifice ritual, an act of sorcery, rivalry and jealousy among the partners, and anger and strife in the Lomax marriage. Glimpses of the fruit do appear. Alice's faithful love and prayers for her son endure, Mary Ann longs for love and closeness, and Kevin's conscience is never entirely silenced. Joy and peace are almost entirely missing. That absence is part of the film's point about where vanity leads.
The charactersExamples to follow or avoid
Kevin LomaxKeanu ReevesA gifted, ambitious defence lawyer whose need to win leads him to free the guilty and neglect his wife. Whether he can resist the firm's pull is the film's question.
John MiltonAl PacinoThe magnetic head of the law firm, who is Satan. He tempts through charm and opportunity rather than force, and his speeches against God are the film's most pointed lies.
Mary Ann LomaxCharlize TheronKevin's loving wife, isolated and unravelling in New York. She is assaulted by Milton and disbelieved by her husband, and her suicide is the story's greatest tragedy.
Alice LomaxJudith IveyKevin's devout Baptist mother, who quotes Scripture and senses danger early. She carries a painful secret about Kevin's father that she reveals too late.
Eddie BarzoonJeffrey JonesThe firm's greedy managing director, who threatens to expose its crimes. Milton presents him as the face of a world consumed by appetite.
How Christians are portrayed
Alice Lomax, a churchgoing Baptist, is the clearest Christian character. She is sincere, prayerful and quick to quote Scripture. Her instincts about the danger in New York and the firm prove right, but her son dismisses her as old-fashioned, and her long silence about his father adds to the harm. The film opens with a lively revival service and includes a funeral that draws on Psalm 46. Faith is treated respectfully but somewhat naively, as a warning voice that goes unheeded, while the devil is given the most persuasive arguments.
Community
What other Christians think
What did you notice?
A sex scene, shown or clearly implied?
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Review
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Details
Film details
- In theatres
- Oct 17, 1997
- Cast
- Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Jeffrey Jones
- Director
- Taylor Hackford
- Studios
- Monarchy Enterprises B.V., Regency Enterprises, Kopelson Entertainment
- Genre
- Horror, Drama, Mystery
- Run time
- 2h 24m
- Age rating
- US R · UK 18
How we analysed this
We counted language, blasphemy and other content in the film's dialogue and read it with the plot and film details, then rated each content area against our rubric and worldview scale, using AI models calibrated on reference titles. Not yet reviewed by our team. Confidence: medium.
Score = 100 − 16 × content concern (4.64) + 8 × worldview (0) = 26
This is a guide to help families choose with wisdom, not a verdict on anyone's conscience ().
Updated 2026-10-14