Why Christian Movies Get Such Bad Reviews

Why do Christian films always seem to get terrible reviews? Some thoughts.

A couple good Christian youtuber film reviews are

[alexmeyer]

I’ve been a Christian my whole life (Catholic, to be specific), and I have seen a lot of these Christian films and not been impressed with them. Not necessarily because they’re targeted more towards a conservative, Protestant evangelical audience, but because the storylines often come across as clichéd, narrow-minded, and sometimes downright unrealistic. In the process, the films often suffer from having bad acting, writing, directing, etc.

I think the main reason why critics often don’t like these kinds of Christian films is that they try to appeal to only a small demographic while giving no kind of invitation to other Christians or people who aren’t Christians. Plus, these films always try so hard to get out their message that they often ignore what makes more secular films more critically acclaimed as well as awards contenders such as good acting, writing and directing.

I think these Christian films can do better critically and have a better chance of being Oscar contenders if they take examples from films like The Tree Of Life and Prometheus. Those films aren’t necessarily Christian films, but they have Christian themes that are not only universal to all Christians, but to non-Christians as well. The Tree Of Life features a young boy questioning his faith in God when he notices several bad things happening around him. In one instance, he sees a boy his own age die from drowning, and he later questions God why he should be a good person when God allowed the drowning boy to die. It’s a scene that still feels powerful every time I watch it, and scenes like this have earned praise for The Tree Of Life from both Christians and non-Christians alike, as they all said it perfectly represents the time in everybody’s life when they question their faith in some way. Later when the boy and his two younger brothers grow up, the middle brother dies at the age of 19, and everyone particularly the mother, is plunged into grief. The mother in particular questions God why her son had to die, but she ultimately takes comfort in the fact that God will watch over her son in heaven, something that both Christians and non-Christians alike can identify with. It’s things like that led to the film getting high praise from critics and 3 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.

Prometheus’ main character is a woman who is a scientist, but also a devout Christian. She has no problem balancing both things, and after everything happens in the movie (I won’t spoil it in case you haven’t seen it, but it’s a lot of bad stuff), another character asks her if she still believes in God, and she says yes. Even with those examples of Christianity, the film never forgets to lose sights of the important filmmaking aspects like acting, writing, and directing. That’s the main aspect Christian films ultimately need to improve on. They can still target a certain audience, but they should be able to have elements that can appeal to other audiences as well.

[BryanLomax]

I get your point about being able to relate to the conversion experience. However, one of the problems for me is the amount of emphasis in Christian movies that is placed on the conversion experience, as if that's the be all and end all. Nearly all Christian films end with the climactic conversion, but conversion is only the start of your walk with God. Life happens after that. Check out a film called 'For Love's Sake'. It begins with the conversion then the rest of the film deals with the reality of living after that. It's a low budget Christian film that I was involved in the making of. I also appear in some of the final scenes, but don't let that put you off ha ha.

[paradoxacres]

I think you make a lot of good points. 

I'm not religious, so I can't really say much on the matter. I'd like to ask, though, can the _Lord of The Rings_ trilogy be considered as religious (or at least spiritual) movies? After all, you do have moments where they talk about the afterlife and the whole Good vs Evil thing was played in a simple & straightforward way, in these movies.

(Tolkien was religious, if I'm not mistaken and you can see a few religious elements in his LOTR books.)

[SweetEssie]

That's a valid point. I just came from watching the movie "Woodlawn" with a fellow sister in Christ. We had very different views on it. I thought it was corny, cheesy, and predictable. She thought it was impactful, earnest, and true.
The same thing happened to me when I watched Facing the Giants with a totally different sister in Christ.
However, I liked Noah and very much enjoyed God's Not Dead.
Does that mean I have not yet had a spiritual transformation?
Thank you for your incite and point of view. I will reflect on this in my times of prayer.

[endangeredswimmerzanehodge]

Nice subject. I am very religious myself, but at times I find Christian movies lacking. For me the biggest drawback is the predictability of the ones I have seen. I realize, however, that predictability is normally a desired thing in genre films. But for some reason I find that a problem in this genre.

[WayGoGamer]

You know, I’ve been a Christian for many years and honestly I don’t really like many of the “Christian” movies. But I really like your point on unsaved people not understanding the conversion experience, I’ve never taken the time to realize that. Great video!

[iceman]

I like this video. You seem very nice and open minded. Check out the podcast called God Awful Movies. They review all 3 of the Kirk Cameron Left Behind movies. You'll laugh if you get past the initial blasphemy.

[trueaddict]

Here's the thing - a film can be objectively bad when it comes to pacing, dialogue, writing, cinematography, etc, and none of these have to do with the intended audience. Most of these Christian films, whether you factor in the intended audience are not, are objectively bad, based on these technical criteria. If they were objectively good, there would be a lot more widespread praise of them.

[ROBBTheMovieCollector]

Hi Rachel. I think the only movie i have seen on this list is Akira. i need to give it rewatch, as I haven't seen iit years. I find it really hard to believe it came out in 1988, as the animation really holds up. but as you said the story is a little hard to follow. Which is something i find a lot of the Anime movies that i have seen. I think it might be a lost in translation type of thing. The only criticism, If I had to give one would be that the movie is a bit long, and it did drag a little for me the last time I watched it.

[cameronfabela]

You need a new intro logo... No offense

[sydhamelin]

Christian movies do well, despite reviews, for the same reason Christian rock sells. Built in audience.

Noah was definitely not targeted towards Christians.. See this article about atheist director Aronofsky -

I think usually reviews of Christian movies are close to accurate. I watched 'God's Not Dead' and appreciated it (as a comedy). The idea of any philosophy teacher forcing people to not believe in any higher power is absurd. And then for him (teacher) to get so angry when age old topics are brought up. Topics that, if he truly were a studied atheist, he could refute with some kind of ability.

Then, shoehorn in a moment of repentance, along with a 'atheists are just people that have had a negative religious experience' message, and you get one hilariously awful movie.

Movies that deal with religion well, in my opinion, are ones that don't push an agenda, but simply ask questions that make you think. Films are ruined quickly when an agenda becomes transparent. It reminds me of the 'very special' episodes of sitcoms, where characters are talking about an issue in the EXACT same language that some pamphlet on the topic uses.

In conclusion, I like movies that push the question of belief; but do so without being pushy. It's why I can't stand seeing the "dumb christian" character in SO many movies, because it's the writer just saying "I think christians are dumb, therefore I will have them act accordingly to show the world how dumb they are".