While preparing for an audition for Julliard, Cassandra Evans must overcome extreme social anxiety. She idolizes the popular Katie Sharp for her ability to remain calm and collected while being a famous social media influencer. To Cassandra, Katie has it all, and when Katie publicly humiliates her in front of the whole school Cassandra fails to stand up for herself. That evening Cassandra prays that Katie would experience a day in her shoes and the next morning that prayer is answered.
Katie Sharp is a bully. She gained her social media followers through exploiting the insecurities and shortfalls of those in her high school. When they switch places, however, Cassandra quickly realizes that her fame may not be all that it seems. While Cassandra’s family is loving and walks with The Lord, Katie’s parents live vicariously through her and seem to only care about the success of Katie’s influencer business, not her well-being.At the beginning of the film, Katie explicitly says that she does not believe in God and therefore He isn’t real.Throughout the film, both Cassandra and Katie recognize the ways in which the lives of the other are not as they seem—Katie learns how her bullying affects other people while Cassandra quickly learns how fame can be intoxicating.
Switched does a great job illustrating the flaws associated with the philosophy that “the grass is always greener on the other side.” It also shares a powerful message of the importance of kindness to one another and “leading with love.” It includes a brief scene where youth group is held at Cassandra’s house—in this scene, Cassandra’s popular older brother discusses the principal of loving your neighbor and it’s in that scene that Katie, as Cassandra, realizes the flaws in her ways.
There are some instances in the movie where specific things are inconsistent, but they are few and far between. Some examples of inconsistencies are the fact that Cassandra’s hands do not really move when she plays guitar, and when milk is dumped on her head, the initial scene shows only a small amount of milk while the clean-up scene shows a substantially bigger mess. While the audio is good, it is very clear that Cassandra is lip syncing when she sings. The graphics and visuals throughout the film are well done—especially the social media pages that each character uses and the credits at the end.
As a whole, Switched is a fantastic movie. It has great morals and allows both children and adults to see the benefit in trusting Scripture and seeing value in the things that God has blessed you with specifically. Not only is Switched funny and well written, but it is uplifting and Godly, which makes it a great movie to watch with the whole family!
Switched is Dove-approved for All Ages.
The Dove Take:
Switched shows viewers the nature of extreme bullying in high school as Katie and Cassandra recognize the errors in their ways and how to become better people because of that recognition.
