Good, but a bit heavy-handed... [spoilers]

I'll start by saying that this was way better than I thought it would be. That said, I feel there was some disconnect between the messages in the movie and the actual tone. The film itself felt like it was aimed at older children - 8-12 - but the messages were sort of toddler-level in their heavy-handedness. The bigger problem is that they ended up taking their allegory about 'fear culture' too far.

Ultimately, Grug - the father - did keep his family alive. He did need to learn a lesson about 'living' versus 'surviving', I agree, but the film made him seem like a bad guy for legitimately protecting his family. Every opportunity, fate throws a pie in his face and it's a bit mean spirited. Meanwhile Eep, who I DO like as a character, never gets punished or has to learn a lesson, despite the fact that her eagerness to defy her father often put the family at risk. I feel like Guy was intended to be a compromise between Grug's caution and Eep's courage, but again, if you never address the flaws of your character (Eep), you can't reconcile them.

The part that really made me scratch my head was when Grug threw everyone over to the 'sun side', including his wife. In fact, she was the second person he threw and their moment of departure was so brief. Now, I don't know, but I feel like maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to leave her husband behind like that? I get that the film was intending him to have that redemption moment, but considering his flaw was being over-protective, dying alone in the apocalypse seems a bit zealous. He did manage to get out, but the characters didn't know that would happen, and even expected it wouldn't.

So by the end of the film, all the characters who followed Guy - the lightbringer, as it were - were consistently rewarded, while any overly-cautious or 'stuck in tradition' characters were mocked and punished by fate until they changed. While I think this dichotomy is very interesting, I just don't think it was handled very well. Blindly following whatever seems most progressive isn't always the morally superior choice, and standing still - or even turning back - isn't always the morally inferior.

Regardless, I give it credit: even on a small screen, I was filled with a sense of wonder about the world. I enjoyed the fantasical take on neolithic life and, surprisingly, the relationship between Eep and Guy. I even like the message about getting out of the house and taking chances to better your lot in life.