Woodlawn
HeartGuard score
How suitable a title is for Christian viewers, from 0 to 100. It weighs the content meters and the worldview.
- 80–100RecommendedThis film
- 60–79Good overall
- 35–59Think it through
- 15–34Strong caution
- 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.
- 80–100RecommendedThis film
- 60–79Good overall
- 35–59Think it through
- 15–34Strong caution
- 0–14Not recommended
Worldview score
What the story celebrates or condemns.
Why +2 for this film
The story celebrates faith in Jesus as the force that heals racial division, unites a team and changes lives, presenting conversion and baptism warmly and sincerely.
- +2Affirms faithThis filmPresents faith in God positively and as true
- +1Positive valuesHonesty, sacrifice and family win out
- 0Mixed or neutralNo 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 8+ for this film
No bad language or sexual content; scenes of racial intimidation, a cross burning, riots and hard football hits may unsettle young children.
- Under 8With a parent
- Ages 8–12Yes
- Ages 13–15Yes
- Ages 16–17Yes
- AdultsYes
A sincere, clean true story of faith and football bridging racial division in 1970s Alabama. Racial violence and intimidation are the main concerns for younger children.
Watch guide
What's in it?
LanguageA few racial insults
No profanity. A handful of racial insults are aimed at white characters, shown as part of the tension the story works to overcome.
BlasphemyNone
God and Jesus are spoken of in preaching, prayer and sincere testimony, not as exclamations.
Sex and nuditySome kissing
A few couples kiss. There is no sexual content or nudity.
RelationshipsChaste romance
A gentle teenage romance and loving family relationships.
ViolenceRacial violence, football
Hard tackles and scuffles on the field, including a cheap hit that injures a player. A bus is set alight, a brick narrowly misses a boy, and a jersey is burned on a cross.
Frightening scenesRacial intimidation
Riots, a cross burning and threats against Black families may unsettle younger children, though nothing is graphic.
Drugs and alcoholBrief drinking, smoking
A character drinks from a bottle in a paper bag and smoking is mentioned.
AttitudesRacism, challenged
Racial hostility, a taunting rival coach and pressure to stop religious activity are all shown as wrong or opposed.
OccultNone
No occult content.
- To knowContent to know about
- DiscussWorth discussing
- Early
Racial violence
Desegregation brings racial hostility, including a bus set alight and a brick thrown through a window that narrowly misses a young boy.
- Early
Racial intimidation
A football jersey is burned on a cross in a player's front yard, an image of racial intimidation aimed at a Black family.
- Early
Racial insults
Tension between the black and white players spills over both during games and away from them, and a few characters hurl racist abuse at their white teammates and fellow students.
- Mid
Faith and conversion
After trouble breaks out at the school, a chaplain who is visiting addresses the squad, and almost every player gives their life to Jesus.
- Mid
Religious freedom
The coach is told by superiors to stop all religious activity until a board reviews it.
- Mid
Alcohol and smoking
A character drinks from a bottle in a brown paper bag, and smoking is mentioned in passing.
- Late
Football violence
A rival coach taunts and tells his players to target the star running back, who takes hard tackles and a cheap late hit that injures him.
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
Birmingham, Alabama, 1973. Woodlawn High School is desegregated amid fierce racial tension, and gifted running back Tony Nathan joins a football team that is mostly white. Coach Tandy Gerelds struggles to hold the squad together as black and white players clash and the community's anger spills into the school. When a travelling sports chaplain is invited to speak to the team, something begins to change in the locker room and beyond it. Based on a true story, the film follows the players, their families and their coach as they face prejudice, pressure and a season that draws the attention of the whole state.
Through a faith lensHow it connects to the Bible
Woodlawn presents the gospel as the power that breaks down racial hostility. Paul wrote that in Christ there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, because all are one. That is the change the story traces on a divided team, where black and white players who clashed learn to play and pray together. Peter's vision and visit to Cornelius's house mirror this: a believer is led across a deep social barrier and finds God has shown no favouritism. Coach Gerelds' own turning to faith, and his humility in asking to be baptised in a black church, echo Paul's reminder that the cross makes former enemies one new people. The film also shows a coach told to stop religious activity, recalling the apostles' answer that they must obey God rather than men. Faith here is shown as costly and as bringing reconciliation, though real change is shown as personal and still leaves wounds. Families can ask how Christians today are called to cross lines of division.
Fruit of the SpiritWhich fruit does it show?
8 out of 9 fruits ripe in this film
Ripe grapes are shown in the film, buds are missing
- Self-control
Love shows in Hank, the chaplain, who cares for the players and brings the two rival teams together, and in Tony Nathan's family, who love him steadily. Patience and gentleness mark Tony himself, who takes hard tackles and insults without striking back. Kindness and goodness appear when players from both sides start to look after one another. Joy comes in the team's shared prayer and worship, and peace follows as the divided players come to trust each other. Faithfulness is seen in Gerelds, who stands by his players and his new faith when pressed to drop it. The works of the flesh are plain too: hatred in the cross burning and the riot, strife and divisions between black and white students, rivalry and fits of anger on the field, and a rival coach whose taunts urge his players to hurt Tony.
The charactersExamples to follow or avoid
Tony NathanCaleb CastilleA talented, quiet and disciplined black running back who joins the Woodlawn team and faces hostility on and off the field with dignity.
Tandy GereldsNic BishopThe Woodlawn coach, who must hold a divided team together and wrestles with the faith his players embrace.
HankSean AstinA travelling sports chaplain whose invitation to follow Jesus sets the team's transformation in motion.
George 'Shorty' WhiteC. Thomas HowellThe coach of rival Banks High, who is combative and trash-talks, and whose attitude is later tested.
Paul BryantJon VoightThe legendary Alabama coach, who takes an interest in Tony's future.
Momma NathanSherri ShepherdTony's loving, strong-minded mother, who supports and protects her son through a testing time.
How Christians are portrayed
Christians are portrayed warmly and sincerely. The chaplain, the team and the black church that welcomes Coach Gerelds are shown as people whose faith changes their lives and relationships. Opposition comes from officials who want religion kept out of school, not from mockery of believers.
Community
What other Christians think
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Review
Helpful reviewer
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Given to members whose reviews 25 or more people have marked Helpful.
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Details
Film details
- In theatres
- Oct 16, 2015
- On streaming
- Apr 27, 2016
- Cast
- C. Thomas Howell, Sean Astin, Jon Voight, Virginia Williams
- Directors
- Jon Erwin, Andrew Erwin
- Studio
- Sony Pictures
- Genre
- Drama
- Run time
- 2h 3m
- Age rating
- US PG
How we analysed this
We gathered the plot and reception, and facts that independent sources agree on, 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 (1.51) + 8 × worldview (+2) = 92
Updated 2026-10-15