Clearly a lot of care went into making this. Technical credits are solid, and most of the acting is at least competent. However, the script is a mess, and the editing is downright incompetent. Each character is a walking cliché that can be described with one adjective. The ending is simultaneously ludicrous and painfully obvious. While much of what occurs on screen is more than a little silly, the tone is uniformly somber throughout. There is almost no dialogue between the two lead characters, but we are treated to TWO lengthy montage sequences of them in "deep meaningful conversation." Yet we are supposed to believe that they are soulmates. There is NO insight into the lives of teenagers, and no serious or reflective discussion of faith. Mysteries (of the mundane rather than the spiritual variety) are brought up and then never explained. The sneering no-dimensional villain is taken out by a deus ex machina that's a cow.
There is no sense of artistry or style. The music is repetitive and swells overdramatically even when nothing much is going on. Transitions are abrupt and jarring. Every time the film starts to get going, with a scene that's genuinely unnerving or beautiful or somewhat authentic, the moment is killed by a cut into numbingly clunky, meandering, and/or unaffecting drivel. And then there's the very last scene, which looks like something out of a soft core porn film.
What kills me is that they had the material here to make a daring and original Christian film. Really deal with teenage alienation, moral choices and their consequences, the power of faith and love to save us from the very real darkness that inhabits everyday life ... but it's just not here.
There is no sense of artistry or style. The music is repetitive and swells overdramatically even when nothing much is going on. Transitions are abrupt and jarring. Every time the film starts to get going, with a scene that's genuinely unnerving or beautiful or somewhat authentic, the moment is killed by a cut into numbingly clunky, meandering, and/or unaffecting drivel. And then there's the very last scene, which looks like something out of a soft core porn film.
What kills me is that they had the material here to make a daring and original Christian film. Really deal with teenage alienation, moral choices and their consequences, the power of faith and love to save us from the very real darkness that inhabits everyday life ... but it's just not here.