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By Sandra Olmsted

Over the last ten years or so, faith-based films have become popular and usually synonymous with Christian themes in the film although any film or TV show with a strong religious component could be categorized as a faith-based film or TV show. For example, Life of Pi (2012). The market for these films has grown to the point where major studios have made or are looking at making faith-based films.

Even though Noah (2014) had an estimated budget of over $120,000,000, probably gone are the days of the big-budget epic, like Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956), because while the box office for faith-based films is growing, the return doesn’t warrant a Batman v Superman (2016) risk. Since the current crop of the faith-based films are character driven with few locations and characters, a contemporary setting/time period and/or very few scenes requiring massive CGI special effects, a modest budget for quality cast and crew provides the studios with the best returns for a lower risk.

The risk, however, isn’t just about the budget. The risk is really about whether the film will gain traction with the general audience, rather than just a specific audience. What doesn’t appeal to a general audience is heavy-handed preachiness, and that distain for preaching isn’t limited to just religious films. Preaching at the audience can be about any cause or belief, for example, Avatar (2009), which was negatively critiqued for a heavy-handed environmental theme, verses WALL-E (2008), which thought-provokingly critiqued consumerism instead of delivering a litany on its evils. Spirituality, as a part of human experience and history, has been a theme in American films since Pathé Frères’ Passion Play (1903) was released in America. The struggle for the faith-based film movement is finding the tipping point and not crossing over from reflecting the human condition and experience into preachiness and heavy-handedness.

There are currently two faith-based films in release: While Miracles from Heaven hits all the marks for quality production at an acceptable risk, reflecting the human experience, and critiquing without preaching, The Young Messiah fails. Miracles from Heaven: Director Patricia Riggens (the heavy-handed The 33) had an estimated budget of $13 million yet is a quality production at a low risk for producers DeVon Franklin, T.D. Jakes, and Joe Roth.

For its opening weekend, Miracles from Heaven scored 3rd at the box office. When their daughter Anna develops a rare digestive disorder called pseudo-obstruction motility disorder, Christy (Jennifer Garner) and Kevin (Martin Henderson) Beam struggle to accept losing Anna to a disease for which there is no treatment. Their only hope is a miracle.

Because Christy struggles to maintain her faith, especially when confronted by people who believe that her family’s misfortune must be a result of sin, the film appeals to a general audience who sympathize with Christy. When her faith is affirmed, the audience can believe in the miracle, too, resulting in a satisfying story that both critiques negative religious thoughts and affirms positive spirituality.

The Young Messiah: Director Cyrus Nowrasteh’s movie lacks the powerful script a general audience expects in a Biblical epic, and while the film’s recreations of an ancient setting looks good, the film comes off as boring, too literal, and poor filmmaking for the $5.4 million budget. As told from Jesus’ perspective, Mary (Sara Lazzaro) and Joseph (Vincent Walsh) return to Nazareth, and Jesus (Adam Greaves-Neal), age seven, searches for his identity as human being and Son of Man.

For the Easter Holiday, Miracles from Heaven won’t be a spoiled, but a brightly colored egg. Rated PG for thematic material, including accident and medical images and running 109 minutes, Miracles from Heaven, a TriStar Pictures release, is in theaters now.

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