David (2025) Review – This Is An Impressive Animated Drama
Directors: Brent Dawes, Phil Cunningham
Cast: Phil Wickham, Brandon Engman, Adam Michael Gold, Brian Stivale, Mark Jacobson, Kamran Nikhad, Asim Chaudhry, Miri Mesika, Mick Wingert, Will de Renzy-Martin, Lauren Daigle
Cert: U (tbc)
Running time: 115 mins
Co-directed by Brent Dawes and Phil Cunningham, this animated Biblical adventure is based on the story of David, as told in the Book of Samuel from the Old Testament. In addition, the film is a continuation of the five-part animated TV series Young David, created by Cunningham and, like the film, produced by Angel Studios, who specialise in providing wholesome, faith-based entertainment.
Set in Bethlehem, the film begins with young shepherd David (Brandon Engman, reprising his role from the animated series) saving his flock of sheep from an attacking lion, before returning home and discovering that he has been anointed the next King of Israel, by the spectacularly bearded prophet Samuel (Brian Stivale). This doesn’t go down too well with King Saul (Adam Michael Gold), but David nonetheless earns his favour when he defeats the giant Goliath (Kamran Nikhad), thereby inspiring Saul’s Israelite army to defeat the Philistines in battle.
Years later, the adult David (now voiced by Phil Wickham) is now a soldier in Saul’s army, and good friends with Saul’s son, Jonathan (Mark Jacobson). However, Saul grows increasingly jealous over David’s status as his future usurper and frames him for attempted murder, forcing David and his family to flee Bethlehem.
According to available sources, the film had a budget of £60 million, and it’s fair to say that that money has clearly been poured into the animation, which is of exceptionally high quality for this sort of thing. In particular, the character design work is strong (the various elaborate beard designs are a distinct highlight), and there’s a suitably epic quality to the battle scenes.
On a similar note, there are a handful of decent songs by Jonas Myrin, effectively a series of religious power ballads with catchy refrains like, “Why have you forsaken me noooooooow!” In addition, the voice work is solid, with Nikhad in particular giving Goliath a suitably deep and booming voice that works well.
Unfortunately, the story itself is both a little dull, and a little unfocused, lacking both drama and suspense. It also falls short when it comes to delivering its big emotional moments – for example, the reconciliation between David and his resentful older brother Eliab (JOnathan Shaboo) should have been much more impactful.
On top of that, some promising characters – most notably David’s younger sister Zeruiah (voiced by Sloan Lucas Muldown and then Ashley Boettcher) – are frustratingly underdeveloped.
The same is ultimately true of the script, not least when it comes to humour. In fairness, there are a couple of great jokes – a sight gag involving Goliath’s armour bearer and a one-liner describing Goliath: “Imagine the biggest warrior you’ve ever seen…and that somebody ate him.” However, those two jokes appear in the David and Goliath sequence (which is surprisingly short, considering that’s what the majority of the audience will be waiting for), and there’s very little trace of that humour in the rest of the film.
In short, this is an impressively made animated drama with likeable characters and some catchy songs. It’s just a shame that the script didn’t receive the same level of attention as the animation.
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