THE CROODS | KAIROS GLOBAL | FEBRUARY 2020

Author: Joseph Anthraper

Family – the thing that makes us or breaks us, humans. St John Paul II says that "marriage and family is willed by God in the very act of creation", echoing St Paul, for whom family is a visible sign of the very love of God, "from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named". Yet for many of us our families have been less than perfect, to say the least. However, as with pretty much everything in Christianity, "we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us".

"The Croods" is a 2013 animated movie produced by DreamWorks and directed by Kirk DeMicco and Chris Sanders. Set in a prehistoric era, it tells the story of a cave family called "Croods", consisting of Grug the overprotective father of the family, Ugga his wife, Eep their teenage daughter, Thunk their son, their baby daughter and Gran, Ugga’s mother. While most of the cave men and women around them have perished, the Croods have survived until now thanks to the fierce strength and the protective instincts of Grug. He sets boundaries for everyone in the family and the life he has seen around him, has made him deeply suspicious of anything that might be new or out of the ordinary. His daughter Eep, though, resents her dad for his overbearing rules and restrictions.

Venturing out seeking fire one night without her dad knowing, Eep chances upon a human called Guy, who though in some ways is similar to her, yet in others is different from the cave people she has known, as he has the knowhow to make fire as well as uses his intellect more than his strength to tackle problems. Guy warns Eep of the impending apocalypse and invites her to join him as he is on the voyage to the place he calls, “Tomorrow”. Eep hasn’t the heart to leave her family and returns to her cave. Set in the fictional era when the Pliocene Epoch is coming to an end, soon huge earthquakes destroy their home and Grug and his family are forced into unfamiliar territories as they descend into a tropical forest, where Guy helps them escape from the deadly Piranhakeet birds, scaring them off with fire.

Grug is deeply suspicious of Guy and resents his new ideas and ways of doing things. Though the whole world is changing before his eyes, Grug still believes that the cave, the only world he has known for his entire life is still the safest refuge for them. The rest of the movie takes us on their adventure, where Grug learns, albeit hesitantly, to let go off some of the certainties of his past, and Eep learns the strength and value of the bond of family – especially and most importantly, the self-sacrificing love of her dad.

Although the story is set in prehistoric age, metaphorically it is the story of every generation – the youth who resent the boundaries set them by the older generation and the grown-ups, mostly unwilling to let go of the familiarities with which they have grown up, and deeply suspicious of anything new. It is also the story of the fatherly love of Grug, who though is shown as over-protective, is that precisely to protect and care for his family. Sometimes, we realize the value of the love of our less-than-perfect-families only when we lose it, as Eep discovers.

The Croods is an entertaining movie recommended for the whole family.

Joseph Anthraper lives in Southampton with his wife Mahima and kids – Anna-Claire, John-Paul & Samuel. He loves reading, movies and apologetics and is part of the Kairos Global Editorial Council.