The Star (2017):The Christmas Movie That Retells the Nativity Through the Animals Who Almost Missed It

The Star is not really about Mary and Joseph, at least not at first. It is about Bo, a donkey nobody expects much of, who ends up walking alongside the birth of Jesus without ever meaning to be part of it. That gap between how small a character seems and how large a role they end up playing is what the movie is actually built around.

The Nativity itself unfolds mostly at the edges here, seen through Bo, a sheep named Ruth, and a dove named Dave rather than through the people traditionally at its center. Told this way, the familiar events feel less like history being recited and more like something these animals stumble into and choose to see through, which gives the story a different kind of momentum than a straightforward retelling would.

Herod's soldiers give the journey real stakes, and Bo's own restlessness, his sense that he is meant for something more than the life he has been handed, runs underneath the larger events the whole way through.

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🐴 A familiar story from an unfamiliar angle. Rather than centering Mary and Joseph, the movie follows the animals traveling alongside them. Students get a version of the Nativity built around characters who are usually background details.

🌟 Bo's arc is about more than the plot around him. Bo starts the movie wanting to escape his small life and prove himself. His path toward realizing that purpose can come from unexpected places gives the movie its own throughline, separate from the historical events it retells.

🎬 A genuinely starry voice cast. The movie features Steven Yeun, Gina Rodriguez, Zachary Levi, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Tracy Morgan, and Christopher Plummer, among others. Students may recognize several of these names or voices.

👑 A clear villain with a real threat, kept age-appropriate. King Herod and his soldiers give the story tension and stakes without pushing the movie into territory too intense for its target age group.

🕊️ Friendship carries the story as much as the journey does. Bo's relationships with Dave and Ruth develop over the course of the movie, giving students a second layer to follow alongside the larger events unfolding around them.

🎄 A natural fit for the last week before Christmas break. At under 90 minutes and with broad appeal for upper elementary and middle school students, it works well as a lower-stakes watch during a season when attention is already elsewhere.

⚠️ Things to be aware of:

• Contains no language or substance use.
• Includes mild scenes of peril, including a large animal charging at characters and two dogs threatening Bo.
• King Herod's soldier draws a sword near Mary at one point before being stopped.
• The soldier falls from a cliff near the end of the movie, though this is not shown graphically.

📚 English Language Arts Teachers. The guide's three tiers of comprehension questions give ELA teachers a way to differentiate for mixed-ability classes, and the storyboard and synopsis activity asks students to sequence and retell the story in their own words. The character writing task adds a creative component alongside the comprehension work.

🗣️ ESL and ELL Teachers. The multiple choice question set works well with ESL and ELL students, offering a lower-barrier way to check comprehension without requiring full sentence responses. The movie's simple dialogue and clear visual storytelling support language learners following along.

🌐 Social Studies Teachers. The movie's retelling of a story tied to a major world religion and holiday gives Social Studies teachers a way to touch on cultural and religious traditions during a unit on world cultures or holidays. The guide's comprehension questions keep students accountable while watching, though there are no dedicated Social Studies activities.

🎬 Substitute Teachers and Cover Lessons. Hand it to a sub and walk away. The comprehension questions, storyboard, character writing, and word search are all self-contained and organized, with answer keys included for the comprehension question sets. A substitute can run the whole session without having seen the movie.

🏠 Homeschool Parents. The Star's short runtime and gentle pacing make it a manageable single-sitting watch for home learners. The guide covers comprehension at three levels of difficulty, a storyboard and synopsis task, character writing, and a word search, giving a parent plenty to work with without needing to adapt group activities.

💙 SEL Teachers. Bo's journey touches on self-worth, perseverance, and finding purpose beyond a role others have assigned him, and his friendships with Ruth and Dave model loyalty and teamwork. The guide does not include dedicated SEL activities, but the comprehension questions and character writing task give students a structured way to engage with the movie.

🌟 Supporting All Learners Movie guides can be a wonderfully calm fit for students with autism, learning difficulties, and mild to severe disabilities. The structured format gives every student a clear purpose during viewing, easing uncertainty and allowing them to engage at their own pace. If you teach in a special education or learning support setting, you may find this guide a gentle and practical resource. Find out more about why movies work for diverse learners.

Part 1: Comprehension Questions
Three differentiated sets of chronological comprehension questions: 32 full sentence questions, and 31 multiple choice questions with three answer options each (the final question requires a full sentence response). The multiple choice set works well with ESL and ELL students. Answer keys are included.

Part 2: Storyboard and Synopsis
Students draw a nine scene storyboard of what they consider the most important parts of the movie, with a brief description for each scene, then use that storyboard to write a synopsis of the movie.

Part 3: Character Writing and Word Search
Students choose a character to write about following guided prompts and include a drawing of that character. A word search follows, with 15 words or connected words, including 10 that must first be unscrambled and 5 answered from clues. Answers are included.