The other mistake Christian filmmakers could make would be to insulate their success and build a PG-rated mirror image of Hollywood. And a Bible chapter that celebrates the lives of Christians well-lived - sometimes called the “hall of faith” - commends Christians for faithfulness despite being homeless, orphaned, poor, mocked, tortured, stoned and dismembered.įeeling good at the movies is fine, but if movies carry the label “Christian” they should probably adhere to the shape of the Christian story, which is cruciform - connecting suffering and meaning, the blessings of heaven with the muck of earth. Of Jesus’ 11 faithful disciples, 10 died as martyrs.

Quite the opposite, the Bible calls people to trust God even if he doesn’t send blessings and rainbows.

American Underdog is the real-life story of undrafted NFL player Kurt Warner, who went on to become the MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV.īut “trust God and win trophies” is not the message of any brand of Christianity outside of Joel Osteen telethons. The protagonist in I Can Only Imagine surrenders his ambitions to God and then lands a recording contract and goes platinum. The big problem with many Christian movies (aside from low budgets and corny scripts) is that they preach a gospel of success: trust God and you’ll win the game / get the girl / be healed of your disease. One way this success could go wrong is for faith-forward filmmakers to emphasize the “feel good” to the exclusion of truth. This moment could prove to be the beginning of a new, and better, era of faith and film.” Two Pitfallsīut movies that make money don’t necessarily make disciples. After decades of Christian movie flops, the last 30 days have finally proven that faith-based films can both win over critics and make real money. Hollywood will almost certainly rush to make more movies to snag the crowds showing up for I Can Only Imagine and Paul, Apostle of Christ. After the success of religious films in 2018, Christian culture magazine Relevant prophesied, “There’s never been a time in movie history quite like now. Preachers of this genre say the trend is likely to continue.

That certainly includes religious films like Jesus Revolution, but it also includes PG Disney-princess tales, and PG-13 white-hat hero stories like Top Gun: Maverick, which grossed $719 million in the U.S., and which this year’s Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel called “the movie that saved movies.”

The Magic Dreidels by Eric A. Kimmel