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MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

It’s not often that a theater audience gets a chance to hear a few words from a movie’s director both before and after the feature presentation. In the prologue, David Helling shares a few words about his journey towards making His Only Son, including his education in filmmaking. The movie was financed through crowd funding (through Angel Films) which raised $250,000. I would describe it as a “Little Red Hen Production” since Helling was personally involved as the writer, director, producer, and film editor.

I am convinced that His Only Son is a sincere act of faith by David Helling to lead people to God’s love as demonstrated by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

I am also saddened to report that His Only Son is one of the most misguided Bible-based films of recent years and not likely to have much of an impact on anyone who is not already familiar with the story of Abraham, the patriarch of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Abraham (Mouawad) is called by God to travel from his home country and make a long journey with his wife Sarah (Seyed) to the land of Canaan, where his trust in God will lead him to become the father of a great nation with descendants outnumbering the stars in heaven. Abraham and his wife Sarah have a difficult time conceiving a child, so when their son Isaac is born, it is a cause for celebration. Shockingly, a few years later, God commands Abraham to take Isaac to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him as an act of obedience. Even though an angel of God stays Abraham’s hand and prevents the death of his son, the binding of Isaac is one of the most troubling stories in the Hebrew scriptures.

That’s a lot of ground to cover in under two hours. The movie’s first stumble is to begin the story with God’s command of child sacrifice (including the proviso that Sarah is not to know anything about this). As Abraham and Isaac make the three-day journey to Moriah, they are accompanied by slaves who are also going to give Abraham a bit of heat for the ways in which he treated Hagar, a fellow slave and birth mother to Ishmael (Abraham’s other son). This whole affair is told in a series of flashbacks that all too briefly comment on things without showing us much of the conflict (there is not time for that). Folded into the movie are baffling encounters with lusty soldiers (evoking the Genesis account of Lot and his daughters) and a “procurer” (Ted Harvey) who offers the services of his harlots at a wayside brothel along the pathway (without success).

This might sound somewhat salacious or juicy or even campy, but His Only Son is actually slow-moving, reverent, and dull, accompanied by a droning soporific musical score. The film concludes with a visual depiction of the crucifixion, followed by the end credits and a bunch of scripture verses about accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

My advice is to consider witnessing your faith in Jesus Christ by showing love, compassion and forgiveness in His Name to everyone you know, so that they may invite the Lord into their hearts, receiving the promise of eternal life and saving themselves from being dragged to a theater to see His Only Son.

Halo and Pitchfork Rating:

Two halos: This confusing retelling of the Abraham story creates additional complications with an already problematic text.
Three pitchforks: The binding and near sacrifice of Isaac; prostitution; violence and the threat of sexual assault.

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