I didn’t see this movie when it was in theaters, though I did know some people who did, and I was a bit surprised that they seemed to like it a lot. Curiosity finally got the better of me, and I gave this movie a watch. I really can’t say I was impressed; no, not one bit.
Summary
A young girl, roughly 12 years old, causes a stir when some dead animals come back to life when she prays for them. Then, some people get healed in the same way. But for the girl herself, something seems very wrong, and when it looks like she’s close to death, some people close to her try to get her to a certain place where she had earlier claimed to have seen God.
Cringe
Pretty strong. A cast of competent actors lessens the cringe a bit, but they can’t cover over a very poor and emotionally manipulative story.
Acting
I’ll give the acting some props. It seems like they did what they could with what they had been given. My problems with the movie have little to do with the actors as actors.
Cliches
Oh, boy, were there ever cliches.
A character who is bitter at God because of something that happened in his past? Check.
A parental-like figure begging God to take him instead of the little girl? Check.
A reporter who’ll do anything to get a story? Check.
An apparently sad ending the becomes happy because of a giant God-bandage? Check.
Lots of people apparently seeing God himself but not having any evidence for the event? Check.
About the only cliche the movie doesn’t really get into is the persecution cliche.
Interesting Aspects
No many, really. At least, not good ones. The movie has no great twists or turns. It’s all little better than typical.
Problems
This isn’t a Christian movie: Sorry to burst your bubble, but there is nothing really Christian in this movie, and that’s because Christ is not really in this movie.
Toward the end, after the little girl’s resurrection, she goes outside to talk with the people who have apparently come to see her as some kind of avatar or icon. While it’s good that she tells them not bow to her, and she says that God was the one who did the miracles and not she herself, what is her overall message to them? What are they suppose to do?
“All of you can cure people, you really can. All you have to do is believe in God and pray to Him, and He’ll help you.”
I can’t think of anything in the Bible that says that.
“He (God) told me to tell you to love your children and your families, and to try to help one another every day. So, when we all go home tonight, say a prayer and ask what you can do to make your family strong and to help other people. God will help you, because, well, He loves you all a lot.”
Barf.
So, we had all that drama, all those healings and resurrections, all that running about trying to get the girl to apparently the only place where God will meet her, all so God could tell her…that?
Is it necessarily bad advice? Maybe not, though it’s very vague. But it’s not Christianity. We don’t need a special message from God to tell us to treat each other well. We don’t even need Christianity to tell us any of that. Modern pagans are quite ready to force their virtues on all of us. Heck, we just got finished with two years of them trying to make us do all manner of useless and even harmful things because of a certain disease, and they told us to do it because it would help other people, or what have you.
The point it, there nothing particularly Christian in what she’s saying.
What would be a Christian message?
Act 2
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Acts 3
17 “ And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
Romans 3
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
A Christian message would be more than just “treat other people well”. So far as it goes, that’s fine, but it doesn’t go far. We all know that we should treat each other well, we sure don’t need God to send a little girl back from the dead to tell us that, because not knowing that is not our problem.
One of our biggest problems is that we don’t do it. We don’t treat each other well. We don’t love our neighbors as ourselves. That standard may seem attainable, until we start to look at it and try to understand what it really means, then it becomes staggering, a burden too heavy to bear.
In what we call The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses the idea that keeping the law is a simple thing:
Matthew 5
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. 23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
Every law is crushing in its implications. We should not look at the law and feel pride, as if we’re doing so very well at keeping it, as if God must be pleased as punch with how well we’re doing.
Another of our biggest problems is not only that we’ve broken God’s laws, but that breaking those laws makes us subject to punishment. This is a serious issue, because the punishment for sin is Hell.
We don’t need good advice, we need to be rescued, we need to be saved.
That is my problem with this movie; all it gives us is advice. It tries to inspire us to act better. But it offers us no hope of being rescued. It doesn’t tell us, “What must we do to be saved?”
Miracles don’t convince: For whatever reasons, a lot of people think that if people could only see a miracle, if they could only see God “show off” or however they want to phrase it, then people will believe. That’s certainly not a biblical way of thinking; if anything, the Bible says and shows otherwise.
Luke 16
19 “ There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and l saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers— so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
In this story alone, Jesus contradicts the notion that miracles will convince people. Even a resurrection, such as the man Lazarus coming back from the dead, would not convince this rich man’s brothers.
We even see the truth of the story in the account of when Jesus himself resurrected a man named Lazarus.
John 11
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
It could rightly be pointed out that this passage does say that many believed, true. But hardly all, and some who heard about it, knowing it was a true miracle, still not only doubted, but began looking for ways to get rid of Jesus.
In John 6, there is an account of Jesus feeding thousands of people with very little food. Later in that chapter, the people Jesus fed catch up with him, and it’s pretty plain that they want to continue getting free food from him, and are not happy with him when he will not give them what they want.
Some people may well believe if they see a miracle, but miracles are never held up in the Bible as any kind of key to making people convert.
Emotionalism: In the end, this movie is just emotional manipulation. It tries to legitimize some shoddy thinking by trying to make the viewer feel lots of emotions.
Emotions are fine, they have a place, but feeling emotions doesn’t make something right. If a story succeeds in making someone cry, we have no reason to think that this story is giving that person a good message.
Conclusion
Disappointing. Very disappointing, even. Shallow, cliche, just a useless mound of emotionalism. Nothing solid, no good teaching, no real Christ, nothing in it deals with our real issues.
I can’t regret not seeing this in theaters. It wasn’t even worth seeing now. And I sure can’t recommend that anyone else watch it.
