As its title suggests, the film explores the early life of George Washington.

It captures a little-known chapter of Washington's life, before he became commander of the Continental Army and long before he became America's first president.

While researching the film, the director told a museum guide he was making a movie about young George Washington. Her reply was, “Well, of course, I guess he was young once.” 

The story begins with ten-year-old George Washington shortly after the death of his father. It follows his journey from aspiring surveyor to ambitious young military officer.

Young Washington portrayed strong themes of pride, humility and leadership. It showed a maturing Washington as he learns to check his ambition, pride and stubbornness and curb them through humility to be shaped into the leader he is to become.

Young Washington Overall Rating

Young Washington exceeded my expectations and earns a solid 7.8 out of 10. Good performances, strong themes, and honest history outweigh a few storytelling weaknesses.

Although God and Divine Providence are mentioned several times, the film wisely avoids turning Washington into an overtly religious hero. It was a very pleasant watch in that regard.

So, did I like the film?

Absolutely. In fact, I enjoyed it far more than I expected.

William Franklyn-Miller in Young Washington
Angel 2026

What Is An Angel Premiere Like?

My brother Becket and I were delighted to attend the Angel Young Washington World Premiere in Nashville, Tennessee.

We couldn't have asked for a better evening. The suggested dress code was Colonial formal attire, and we fully embraced the colonial theme.  Walking the red carpet and having our picture taken was one of the evening's highlights. And the venue was so elegant! 

The atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming, with friendly guests in colonial dress eager to strike up conversations.

Another highlight was seeing all the Harmon brothers and being within 10 feet of Neil at one point!

An unexpected moment was meeting a mutual friend of Alejandro Rodriguez, the lead editor of our feature film Fabiola.

The party lasted from 3:00-10:00 p.m. with the movie starting at 7:00 p.m. A bar was open and dinner was beautifully prepared!

Extreme Ballroom, a dance troupe from Twin Falls, Idaho, performed several numbers and between performances the teacher taught brave members of the audience how to dance the Minuet.

I'm proud to say that Becket and I were one of the 40 who took the floor.

As memorable as the evening was, the real question remained: would the movie live up to the occasion?

What was I Expecting out of this Film?

I just hate it when Protestant Christians portray our founding fathers as thought they were Christian men when in truth they really were Masons and Deists.

The only Christian (ahem! Catholic) founding father was Charles Carroll of Carrollton. I went into the theater expecting a Protestant retelling of history again with the main character being a flawless, perfect, Godly hero. 

Happily, my fears quickly dispelled as I realized immediately that this wasn't going to be the case.

Before the film played, Neil Harmon (in full costume complete with a white wig) shared a study suggesting that in successful marriages, partners focus on each other's strengths rather than constantly criticizing weaknesses. 

He said that a study showed that a couple is happier in a three-year span when they are constantly seeing the good in each other and even exaggerating qualities.

In comparison, the same study showed that couples who tear each other down and only point out each other's vices are miserable in a three year span if they are even still together.

Harmon then shared that he believed that the founding fathers all had vices and made mistakes. His point was that we as a people would love our country better if we treated our heroes like the couples in the first study.

I remembered reading something similar in former Communist organizer and Catholic convert Bella Dodd's book, School of Darkness.

Dodd explained that it was a tactic of the infiltrating Communists in American schools to teach students that the founding fathers were nothing but a group of tyrannical white supremacists thereby planting the seed in the young to hate their county.

She said that it would be better for a nation to point out qualities (not pretending that flaws did not exist) of our nation's heroes for the sake of patriotism, that is, love of one’s country.

Neil Harmon seemed to agree with Dodd's assessment 100%.

This was generally the film's theme and it was the filmmakers' message as expressed in the Q&A that followed the film.

Strong Themes of Virtue

The middle part of the movie best demonstrated the themes of humility and growth.

Washington leads a rag tag gang of frontiersmen to confront the French fort and force them to withdraw. When the French refuse, Washington has no other choice but to carry out his orders and plan an attack.

When the ally Indians jump the gun and mercilessly attack the French camp, Washington's troop is put on the run with the French following with a vengeance. Once they get to a relatively safe place, Washington leads the men in building a fort. Many are concerned with the position of the fort and encourage him to build elsewhere.

He stubbornly refuses.

When they are forced to surrender the terms are good but Washington must take responsibility for the murder of the French general who was tomahawked to death by the Indians.

Filled with shame and self-disgust, Washington resigns his position as colonel.

After a period of lying low, Washington realizes that his calling is in soldiering so he re-enlists but this time as the general's aide.

Here, Washington works alongside the same men that he lead only a few years before, and he is given the opportunity to ask their forgiveness for letting his pride get in the way of their safety.

In a great battle sequence in which the general is killed, Washington rises to the occasion and steps into the place of leadership again and leads the final charge.

Very happily, the film's message was supported by a cast that was largely very strong.

Themes Supported by a Strong Cast

Andy Serkis in Young Washington
Angel Studios 2026

The supporting cast was consistently strong. William Franklyn-Miller carried the film with a convincing portrayal of a young Washington. It was fun seeing Andy Serkis make an appearance though he distractingly looks like Gollum, (how did they know what he would look like 20 years later when he got older?!?)

The only performance I found distracting was that of Washington's mother.

Another recognizable person who I don’t particularly like but did a good job was Joel David Smallbone from the King + Country band.

Where It Missed the Mark

The film's main and only shortcoming was the structure.

At the risk of sounding like a film snob, from a script perspective there were a few obvious storytelling shortcuts that was screaming “Not Hollywood.”

For example, one witty line repeat is cute. This movie had four.

The screenplay tries to establish a brotherly friendship between Washington and another character, but it never develops enough emotional depth to feel earned.

If you can tell a story about one person without using three side characters doing the brainwork of the audience, there is not room to think, to wonder, or to hunger to watch again.

You are forced to figure the main character out as in a children’s book that has been read aloud to you. When Washington’s friend died, I'm sorry, I was not sad. The friend was a stereotype character that I could feel was going to die the moment he set foot on the screen.

My biggest criticism; however, involved the film's structure.

The movie opens with an exciting battle that immediately grabs your attention. Then it jumps 12 years into the past and unfolds from there. Then, one hour into the movie (I checked to see what time it was) scene-one plays again and the story continues from that point.

Maybe it’s just a storyteller's personal style but as a viewer it seemed a little disjointed and as though it was an editing mistake in post. 

Beginning chronologically and allowing the opening battle to arrive naturally later in the film would have created stronger dramatic momentum.

A Few Interesting Facts

Ok, now I'm really going to nerd out, but let’s talk sound.

I was particularly impressed with the sound. It was amazingly immersive! It was loud! It was close! The cannons shook the whole theater. Not surprisingly, the director later shared that all the sounds were real and that nothing was recorded in a sound room.

“Could you tell?” he asked.

Yeah, I could tell.

As for the musical score; I know that there must have been music, but it was not memorable. 

Another interesting behind-the-scenes detail was the use of AI in the film's visual effects. The director explained that AI was used sparingly, primarily to create the frozen-river sequence that would have been too dangerous and expensive to film practically.

Where Does It Rank Among War Epics?

This film is considered a war epic.

Although I haven't seen every great war epic, Young Washington naturally made me wonder where it ranks among the war epics I have seen.

My favorite of these still is Gettysburg. The cast is amazing, the music is deeply moving, and the friendships are given the time they need to unfold naturally. By the end of the film, you are still trying to figure Longstreet out.

I'm going to rank the war epics that I can recall according Industrious Family's personal favorites:

1. Gettysburg
2. The Siege of Vienna aka: The Day of the Siege: September Eleven 1683
3. The Patriot
4. Zulu
5. Laurence of Arabia
6. Young Washington
7. Waterloo
8. We Were Soldiers

Forever at the bottom of my list will be We Were Soldiers.

I think a film that is most comparable to Young Washington in its focus on the French and Indian War is The Last of the Mohicans. The only thing that that movie has going for it is its music.

Go Watch Young Washington This July 4th

Despite its flaws, I genuinely enjoyed Young Washington and look forward to seeing it again when it opens nationwide over the Fourth of July weekend.

My only significant criticisms are:

• It had awkward structure 
• One actress was distracting  
• The music was not memorable

So all in all, it was a great movie!

A perfect family watch and a great way to celebrate our country's 250th birthday. I encourage you to get out and celebrate by watching this movie in theaters.