2026’s Supergirl, directed by Craig Gillespie, is a punch in the face of the Kryptonian Kara Zor-El’s comic book legacy. In short, I did not like the movie, and I discouraged parents from taking their children to see it. I am a big fan of previous DC movies and the comic book characters, but I found that the writers did not do the source material justice.
The cinematography and special effects are a huge step down from 2025’s colourful Superman release, with most scenes set in a washed-out yellow, red or green colour palette that was almost nauseating to watch.
The set pieces for each scene were designed to be claustrophobic, messy and grimy, which in my view are not suitable for children. The script lacked a single quotable line. The themes were poorly executed, with the audience left to feel more sympathy for Krypto, Supergirl’s dog, than the numerous victims of sex trafficking that appeared later on in the movie.
Parents with preteen children should not take them to see Supergirl, as it glorifies alcoholism. Alcoholism is a real disease, and afflicting a beloved children’s cartoon character with it makes the movie inappropriate for many audiences both on the basis of age appropriateness and religious conviction.
Despite being rated PG-13, I would recommend that a 13-year-old not be allowed to see this movie based on the issue of alcoholism, and also based on it being a waste of their time.
Having seen young men in police custody for drunk driving, the promotion of alcohol as a means of dealing with grief is irresponsible.
For those who did not see the film, spoilers lie ahead.
2026’s Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock, was heavily marketed as having feminist themes. Despite this, the film fails to properly explore real-world women’s rights issues such as human trafficking, child brides and the alienation that refugees and migrants experience when losing their homes.
The movie showed the actress on the toilet but failed to address the issues of sex trafficking that arose in the plot.
Major film critics such as Allison Hambrick of Screenrant.com found the depiction of Supergirl as heavily traumatised to be problematic.
“A mother should be able to take her daughter to see a female superhero without having to watch children being subjected to sex trafficking. While bringing a real issue that many people, not just women or girls, face to the big screen isn’t necessarily a bad thing, female representation is so often linked to trauma that it becomes exhausting. The cages of teenage girls being kept by the Brigands to carry their children—without their consent—are an inherently horrific image.”
Echoing Allison Hambrick’s concern, it is confusing to me why the Supergirl movie didn’t take the lighthearted, colourful tone of the 2025 Superman movie. I would have been supportive of the exploration of trauma and human trafficking if it were done well, but the themes were poorly executed and wasted.
Given that children are exposed to sexual predators online from an early age, education about the dangers of sex trafficking, forced marriage, and other human rights abuses can be traumatic but serves to sensitise the public about a real-world issue.
Unfortunately, the writers of the Supergirl script seem like they have no understanding of human trafficking, human rights, or actual feminist ideology.
The only success of the movie from the perspective of a human rights lawyer is Supergirl’s attempt to prevent a 13-year-old girl from committing a murder; however, this is framed in vague moral terms, not as a breach of child rights.
Analysing the movie as a fan of DC comics, a major character, Lobo, played by Jason Momoa, is depicted as rude and loud but finds himself locked in a cage by run-of-the-mill villains without an explanation as to how they overpowered Lobo. This was clearly a plot device to empower the female characters more than the male characters, but it does an injustice to the comic book source material.
Critics hammered the movie for shoehorning in Lobo to, in effect, take away from Kara-Zor El’s story. The movie would have been better served without Lobo, whose purpose in the comic is usually as an antagonist to Superman and Supergirl.
In conclusion, I d recommend parents stay home and stream the Supergirl TV series or the many animated movies that feature Supergirl as the main character, such as Legion of Super-Heroes. These products are more child-friendly and easier on the wallet in this tight economy. The 2026 Supergirl movie is, at best, a four out of ten. Watch it on your streaming service when it comes out for free, but I don’t recommend spending money to see it.
The failure to clearly articulate to the audience that slavery was bad, and the kidnapping of teen girls to become child brides is a serious human rights issue, makes it unwatchable both as being inappropriate for certain age brackets and as an insult to survivors of modern-day slavery.
