Boys' Bible Study
Ash, Scott, and Julian are innocent angel babies incapable of doing wrong. They invite guests from Hell to watch and critique the best contemporary Christian movies. God wants you to listen to this podcast!
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Walker, Texas Ranger s6e8 "Brainchild" (1997)
10/04/2026
Walker, Texas Ranger s6e8 "Brainchild" (1997)
The eyes of the robot are upon you. In this extremely prescient episode of America's greatest television show WALKER, TEXAS RANGER, a supercomputer named Art keeps a watchful eye on his boy master, a brainchild named Chad who has powerful psychokinetic abilities. Portrayed by 7TH HEAVEN's David Gallagher, Chad is being held captive by the evil science lab Futures R&D, who force him to do grueling psychokinesis displays until his nose starts bleeding. To rescue Chad from his STEM career are our heroes, Walker (Chuck Norris) and his faithful sidekick Trivette (Clarence Gilyard). Walker and Trivette chat with the boy on an online chess website, eventually triangulating his location to Futures, and in the process locate Chad's genius mother, who built Art to protect the child she was told was dead. The amazing thing to know about the comedy of WALKER, TEXAS RANGER is that Walker and Trivette do not bat an eye whatsoever about this young boy using telekinesis to steal bacon from the breakfast table. The style guide of the show seems to state that Walker and Trivette should never once seem to be losing in combat, nor should they ever be intimidated by paranormal forces. These silly creative rules lead a lot of people to believe that WALKER is a substanceless show. While it was definitely slop in its day, revisiting episodes in big 2026 is a revelatory experience, because every episode is packed with interesting sets and a fully bespoke soundtrack. The care and love that went into chud chungus TV in the 90s puts even our prestige efforts of today to shame. BRAINCHILD is one of the best episodes of a genius television show, predicting the rise of AI agents and wowing us with paranormal plots while throwing in some good old fashioned Christian prayer. WALKER, TEXAS RANGER does an amazing job of keeping us surprised, even though its titular character doesn't even know what the word surprise means. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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7th Heaven s10e12 "Got MLK?" feat. Jarred Endres of Grimy Ghost! TEASER
09/27/2026
7th Heaven s10e12 "Got MLK?" feat. Jarred Endres of Grimy Ghost! TEASER
The capstone of our 7TH HEAVEN September series shows the Camdens, in a bizarre later-series arrangement, taking on powerful social issues. This is "Got MLK?" the irreverently named racial reckoning episode in season ten, where Martin (an "accessory Camden" who used to live with the pastor's family) becomes the victim of a hate crime despite being a white man. The crime? A slur painted on his car, probably by his baseball team cohort Brad, but we don't know for sure. It all starts in class with a report on Martin Luther King. Alex (a black student) wants to do one, but his teacher Mrs. Porter rudely asks him to wait for the next MLK Day. She relents when Martin makes a comment that baseball is more important than MLK, proving the importance of additional focus on black history. Unfortunately, students have to redo their reports, causing resentment that may have led to the "racial remarks" painted on Martin's car. What follows is an insane dialogue tree of arguments and consequences, where no character handles the potential helter-skelter situation gracefully. In typical 7TH HEAVEN fashion, the writers seem to be asking -- how does this impact white people? But this is a special episode for us -- we get an inside scoop into the filming of "Got MLK?" via our friend Jarred Endres, who "starred" in it as "Student #8." Jarred, of popular re-edit Instagram account and YouTube channel Grimy Ghost, was a teen actor at the time and nailed his audition to read a report on Thurgood Marshall to end the episode. Finally, with the inside scoop on the Camden hijinks once and for all, we can rest on our laurels and take the lessons we learned from the Camdens (mainly Protestant guilt and anxiety) into our next life -- as soon as we can escape samsara. Grimy Ghost! on Instagram: Grimy Ghost! on YouTube: View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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7th Heaven s4e7-8 "Sin... and Expiation"
09/20/2026
7th Heaven s4e7-8 "Sin... and Expiation"
The Camden family of 7TH HEAVEN are preoccupied with a lot of things. Their spiritual and social anxieties generate most of the show's drama, and the interesting ways they trigger each other in various combinations creates the intrigue that keeps us coming back week after week. SIN AND EXPIATION, a gripping two parter with character arcs for almost everyone in the family, is 7TH HEAVEN at its best: a pressure cooker of Protestant anxiety. Youngest son Simon begins the episodes completely in the dog house because he's caught extending the middle finger at school in an effort to be "one of the guys". His older brother Matt is feeling guilty about wanting to move out of the family home at age 18 despite that being the most normal feeling a legally adult teenager could ever feel. Lucy is the star of her high school's fascist Student Court. Ruthie is alienating everyone with her armpit farting (called "underarm honking" in this Christian household.) Mary (Jessica Biel) has it the worst -- after her basketball team is suspended for the season for bad grades, they vandalize the gym, causing Mary to be arrested and almost ruin her life forever (a story arc 7TH HEAVEN fans consider "the beginning of the end" for her character.) Lastly: patriarch Eric is recovering from a heart attack and matriarch Annie is just plain annoying and bipolar as usual. It's no wonder that the second part of this two episode storyline features Simon and Ruthie visiting various churches of all different major world religions trying to alleviate the guilt they feel inside. This family seriously needs a break from Protestantism. Camdens: have you ever heard about a silent Buddhist meditation retreat? It seems like you guys could really use the peace and quiet, and some space from each other. However, if they ever got that, 7TH HEAVEN would never be the same. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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7th Heaven s6e9 “Lost”
09/06/2026
7th Heaven s6e9 “Lost”
The Y2K era was a golden age for Christian pop culture in the United States, especially on television. On our podcast, we've enjoyed the several weeks we get to review TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL episodes, a TV series so quietly bizarre that it basically invented its own spinoff of Christianity. But that wasn't the only long-running show exploring religious themes for mainstream, primetime audiences: enter 7TH HEAVEN, a show exploring the day-to-day drama of a Pastor's family. Airing weekly on The CW, eventually becoming one of the network's first majorly successful shows, the plot follows the Camden family -- Rev. Eric Camden, his wife Annie, and their five children; Matt, Mary (Jessica Biel), Lucy, Simon, and Ruthie. The family grows when twins Sam and David are born in season 3; in season 6, the family takes in Mary's ex-boyfriend Robbie as a kind of adoptive son. In s6e9 "Lost," Robbie becomes involved in solving a kidnapping plot by uncovering evidence of his girlfriend's brother's disappearance. Also, eldest daughters Mary and Lucy ask their parents to play matchmaker by setting them up with boyfriends. Jealous of this tactic, Matt and Simon also employ family-friendly tactics to get girlfriends. 7TH HEAVEN is fixated on relationships, and the Camden family is unusually open about the dating lives of their devoutly Christian, virginal teens. It's supposed to be a celebration of open, honest family communication, but the parents' encyclopedic knowledge of who all their kids have kissed feels more invasive than wholesome. It's also insane just how many partners the Camden kids have -- each Camden teen has intrigue with multiple potential or ex-partners in this one episode alone. Basically, the Camdens are the sluttiest virgins of all time, and the borderline incestuous dynamic of their sexual openness becomes a theme throughout the entire series. We plan to spend all of September with the Camdens, and we really hope some of their "game" rubs off on us. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Boys' Bean Study: Mr. Bean Goes to Hell
08/23/2026
Boys' Bean Study: Mr. Bean Goes to Hell
Ray Comfort is just like us! Why? Because he is also doomscrolling and completely at the mercy of his algorithm. You can tell what Comfort has been watching online because it becomes the inspiration for his daily sermons, posted on the Living Waters website and YouTube channel. Right now, Ray Comfort is clearly being haunted by none other than Rowan Atkinson and his extremely famous comedy alter ego, Mr. Bean. The first Comfort video we noticed about Mr. Bean, featuring the charming clickbait title “After Mr. Bean Horribly Mocks God, This Immediately Happened,” takes aim at an Atkinson stand-up special in which he takes some frankly unoriginal potshots at Christianity in general. But it must have stirred something deep within Comfort, who only a few weeks later uploaded a new one called “Mr. Bean’s AMAZING Skit on Hell. He Got so Much Right.” This tactic of feigning support for an enemy’s message is typical of Comfort’s usual rhetoric; in this case, Comfort ironically praises Atkinson’s accuracy in depicting the biblical portrayal of hell, feeling the facts are bleak enough that Christians can use Atkinson’s skit as a warning. Comfort also criticizes comedians, asking why they mock Jesus yet stay silent on the Muslim prophet Mohammad. It’s a bizarre callout: not only were several employees of French humor magazine Charlie Hebdo famously murdered for making inappropriate jokes about Islam, there are also several high-profile shows that have taken aim at Islam, such as South Park. Ray shows that his media awareness is laser focused on his own biases. But he’s also focused on something else: in a stunning lore drop, Ray Comfort reveals that he is deeply fixated on the historical tragedy of the Titanic. In his words, there is an entire room in his “mind palace” devoted to the Titanic, the enormity of which “clouds even his sunny days.” It says a lot that Comfort, who takes pains to remind us that hell will be “eternal conscious torment,” is also fascinated by the doomed expedition of the Titanic. His fascination with Mr. Bean will surely die down soon, but for the Titanic, Ray Comfort’s heart will go on. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Drop the Beat (2022) TEASER
08/16/2026
Drop the Beat (2022) TEASER
This movie about a famous, successful rapper who takes a career risk by giving his life to Christ feels like it was written by someone who has never listened to a rap song before. That writer is Jason Campbell, one of the most prolific auteurs currently active in the Christian movie scene. Campbell has produced 88 films since 2013, and per iMDB has 29 upcoming. When you make that many films, the adage "write what you know" can't apply anymore, because you have too many ideas and need to do something new. Maybe that's why Campbell decided to take on the world of hip-hop despite knowing little about it, even basic terms. In the first scene of DROP THE BEAT, rapper Ace Jay is in the studio laying down some conscious rap when his producer says "You need to hit the beat harder," and the rapper replies "What beat? I hit all of them!" This is not how any rapper has ever thought about music, and it's a fundamental misunderstanding of music itself. But Campbell persists, writing a script about Ace Jay's disillusionment with the industry that made him rich. Ace goes back to his roots, touring the performing arts school whose scholarship was his ticket out of "the hood" and into the big time. Meanwhile, his record label schemes against him, planting a rumor that his delayed album stems from drug trouble. The problem with DROP THE BEAT is there's no story or atmosphere in the script or design that supports the plot. We meet Ace Jay at the start of the film saying he's disillusioned, but why? We see nothing of his former life that gives motivation for a redemption arc. Also, Ace simply has no swag; he looks put together, but not like the most famous rapper in the world should look. Fortunately, frequent Campbell collaborator Dean Cain shows up to inject some life into the film, stealing the show for one scene. Per an unsourced iMDB trivia item, Cain was paid $15,000 for his tiny role. This begs the question: how much money is DROP THE BEAT actually making, and did it turn a profit? It's a mystery, but one thing is for sure: Jason Campbell is an absolute machine of Christian movie making, it's just too bad the films themselves feel cold and mechanical. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Beauty and the Atheist (2026)
08/09/2026
Beauty and the Atheist (2026)
Gramps is finally clapping back at the haters and losers! Donald James Parker breaks the fourth wall in his newest feature BEAUTY AND THE ATHEIST. It's a shocking turn for a Christian film auteur, the first Christian film we've ever made fun of on our podcast, with a plot about a Christian film being made fun of on a podcast. Does your head hurt yet? It gets even more meta than that: BEAUTY AND THE ATHEIST is a film about a real event in Donald's life, when he felt (to use his words) an "inaudible message" that compelled him to reach out to atheist activist Forrest Valkai to debate him about the idea of evolution. Forrest accepted Donald's invite and hosted Donald on YouTube to the tune of 500k views. In Donald's own estimation, the debate didn't go very well for him, but it did yield creative inspiration. BEAUTY AND THE ATHEIST is the story of a Christian filmmaker (played by Donald himself) who debates an atheist podcaster, whose hatred of God is finally softened by the love of a Christian woman. Donald James Parker's character is called Douglas Connors, an obvious 1:1 fictional version of himself. In BEAUTY AND THE ATHEIST, the titular "beauty" is Douglas's own daughter Jeweli Connors (yes, spelled like that). She's a hardworking nurse and outspoken Christian who finds solace in a local coffee shop called Common Grounds. It is there she meets the atheist: podcaster Trey Crawford, who loves evolution so much he wears a Charles Darwin shirt every single day. The unlikely pair develop a verbal rapport that turns into weekly discussions about spirituality vs. secularism during workouts at the local gym. But their convivial relationship is turned upside down when Jeweli discovers Trey's podcast is one of the many "chuckleheads" who mock her own father's cinematic evangelism. Fortunately, God has a way, and the blossoming relationship in BEAUTY AND THE ATHEIST shows that love is possible on the battlefield. It's fascinating to see Donald James Parker make art in conversation with the ecosystem that gets likes and views at his expense; we're very curious to see where this conversational thread takes Mr. Parker in the near future. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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The DharMann Bums - A Very Dhar Mann Christmas (in July)
07/26/2026
The DharMann Bums - A Very Dhar Mann Christmas (in July)
Welcome to a new Boys' Bible Study side project called "The DharMann Bums," which is what we're renaming the show whenever we cover an episode of Dhar Mann, the inspirational YouTube filmmaker who racks up hundreds of millions of views making dramaslop with a questionable moral compass. We've covered Dhar Mann before, enjoying his decadent world where archetypes like "nice guys" and gold diggers duke it out, usually over money, and the evil party gets punished for their hubris. Since it's time for our annual Christmas in July episode, we decided to delve into two Christmas-themed Dhar Mann videos: "Foster Mom Won't Let Kids Have Christmas Presents" and "Adopted Kid Finds Out Mall Santa Is His Dad." Notice both plots center on orphans; the orphan is a common Dhar Mann archetype, probably popular because his audience of primarily children empathizes with downtrodden kids stuck between adults who don't have their best interests at heart. Another common trope is the evil foster parent, who only wants kids for the money they bring in through abuse of government handouts. In "Foster Mom," an evil Russian-coded foster mom makes her kids ask for Amazon gift cards for Christmas and blocks adoptions, since losing kids means losing income for her orphanage. In "Mall Santa," an evil foster mom hides her adopted son from his real dad, a humble mall Santa, again because he's her source of passive income. In both videos, Dhar Mann exists as an aspirational God-like figure representing both God and Santa Claus. Only by contacting Dhar Mann, and through the goodness of his own heart, are these orphans relieved of their evil caretakers. By frequently critiquing misuse of government resources while establishing himself as the source of grace and charity, Dhar Mann seems to imply a kind of YouTuber autocracy where the dignity to live comes from one Mann alone. This bizarre quasi-religious undertone, where there is no God but Dhar Mann, makes him fascinating for our podcast about religious megalomania. As long as Dhar Mann keeps making reactionary anti-human art, The DharMann Bums will be here to document it. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Young Washington (2026) TEASER
07/19/2026
Young Washington (2026) TEASER
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! $5 pledge gets you bonus episodes and $20 enters you in our monthly handmade DVD mailing program "Bootleg Bible Study"! While cattle were loading into IMAX theaters all over the country to catch THE ODYSSEY, intellectuals and patriots alike found themselves seated for a different kind of hero's journey. YOUNG WASHINGTON is the story of American mythology, and its founder George Washington, when he was but a twink and the empire he was about to preside over was but a twinkle in King George's eye. Production company Angel Studios -- the A24 of conservative propaganda -- pumped this one out as a July 4 special, and the film features Gollum actor and frequent Angel Studios collaborator Andy Serkis. Serkis recently helmed an animated version of ANIMAL FARM, with a star-studded cast, produced by Angel Studios. YOUNG WASHINGTON is not without its celebrities; Kelsey Grammer cameos, and Mary-Louise Parker (WEEDS) phones in a terrible performance as Washington's mother, Mary. The film chooses to depict a section of Washington's life entirely from when he was a subject under British rule -- a choice that proves to be one of the film's biggest weaknesses. We go to the movies on July 4 to ponder the majesty of America, not hear a bunch of guys with confusingly disparate accents say "God Save the King" over and over again. Not one action taken in the film is pro-America, so who cares? Military history buffs may appreciate the attention to detail that comes with faithfully depicting more obscure pre-Revolutionary War events, but YOUNG WASHINGTON would have fared better as a meme movie with less accuracy. We want the cherry tree. We want the wooden teeth. We want to cross the Delaware. We got none of that. Angel Studios needs to think hard about what it means to produce actually good propaganda and put it into action, quick -- or else they choose to alienate their most annoying and least loyal fans (us). View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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2080 (2025)
07/12/2026
2080 (2025)
This strange genre combination of “end times film,” “pro-abstinence film,” and “time travel film” will give you whiplash. 2080 is a 40 minute long film by Joshua Wright, a Christian social media influencer successful online for his Instagram Reels content, now breaking into a filmmaking form that rewards a slightly longer attention span. The title 2080 hints at a not so far off future, but the film begins in the present day with the story of high school athlete Jacob. Having been accepted into many colleges due to his football prowess, he seems like a man with a bright future ahead of him. Unfortunately, he had one problem: the sin of lust with his girlfriend Lida, who he touches “in a way that only a married woman should be touched.” God jump scares Jacob one night after falling asleep – when Jacob wakes up, he is in dystopian 2080, where flying cars fill the skies and a deadly pandemic called Chronovirus has killed 25% of the world’s population. (Sound familiar?) Even worse, the Chronovirus vaccine is mandatory and requires a microchip implant, similar to pop culture depictions of the “Mark of the Beast” from Revelation. How will Jacob escape this dark future and return back to the comfort of 2025, where everything is great? And does the girl he meets in the future, Ari, who bears a striking family resemblance to him, hold the key? 2080 is laudable because it combines common Christian movie tropes in a genuinely unexpected way that surprised us even after years of dedication to watching this genre. However, the combo really could have used some editing, and the protagonist Jacob could have used some humility that would have made his path to salvation more relatable. It’s also very unclear what the correlation is between the COVID parallels and Christianity in this movie. Is the vaccine a sin, or is that just world building? These hints at hard theological topics with no resolution make 2080 a messy and ultimately unsatisfying watch. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Christian Princess and the Muslim Pauper (Webseries, 2009-2011) TEASER
07/05/2026
Christian Princess and the Muslim Pauper (Webseries, 2009-2011) TEASER
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! $5 pledge gets you bonus episodes and $20 enters you in our monthly handmade DVD mailing program "Bootleg Bible Study"! The 2000s marked a huge shift in the methods available to DIY outsider filmmakers. Internet connectivity became a necessity for the average person instead of just a hobbyist pursuit, and powerful consumer softwares offered new ways of making stories come to life and be distributed directly to a global audience. Case in point: CHRISTIAN PRINCESS AND THE MUSLIM PAUPER, a religious-themed webseries by animator AZAD669, created using mods of The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 allowing for custom animations, and edited using Sony Vegas software. Episode 2 of this webseries has accrued over 600,000 views since it was first uploaded, a testament to the democratization of film distribution typical to the era. Not much is known about AZAD669 -- their website no longer exists online -- but we speculate they are ethnically Pakistani, in part because the series contains Urdu subtitles, which is the national language of Pakistan. Also, the series uses some Pakistani music. Indeed, CHRISTIAN PRINCESS AND THE MUSLIM PAUPER is a musical -- each episode contains an extended animation sequence where characters sing and dance to pop songs, including Disney and Barbie ballads. There is one original song, "Inshallah," the main title of the webseries, which is actually just a singer repeating the word "Inshallah" (Arabic for "If God Wills") over Aerith's Theme from FINAL FANTASY VII. This blending of IP from popular works is typical of 2000s fan animations, showing DIY filmmakers using artistic ingredients from their favorite franchises to add to the atmosphere of their own story. In this case, that story is of rival fictitious Christian and Muslim nations of Jameland and Abustan. Princess Rosa of Jameland yearns for freedom from her royal duties, the answer to which could be switching places with Mariah, a humble Muslim girl who looks so similar to Rosa she could be her identical twin. Can a mischievous swap between the two young ladies prevent a Holy War brewing between the two lands, instigated by an evil atheist ironically named Stephen the Trustworthy? CHRISTIAN PRINCESS AND THE MUSLIM PAUPER is as weird and stilted as you would expect of an enthusiastic amateur animation made on The Sims 2, but its wholesome message of unity between Christians and Muslims against the scheming atheists is one we can all agree on. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Counter Column (2020)
06/28/2026
Counter Column (2020)
America’s 250th birthday is coming up this weekend (unc much?) so we decided to celebrate with another film taking place within the hallowed halls of the barracks. COUNTER COLUMN is a story of three teenagers who, for different reasons, sublimate themselves into US military basic training while growing spiritually in the process. Unfortunately, the film is very confusing, and just seems to be a reimagining of FULL METAL JACKET from memory but without any of the artistry. The military is a somewhat common backdrop for Christian films for a few reasons – most obviously, it signals the contemporary conservative value of trust of government systems, demonstrating tribal distance from those nasty leftists. But also, purification of the self in basic training, where a guy with a hat yells at you a lot and you have to run a few miles, is a metaphor for spiritual purification through Christ. In COUNTER COLUMN, Anthony Mendoza is a juvenile delinquent who joins basic training to clean up his act and get away from the drugs, but his destructive impulses manifest in making life hard for his fellow trainees, Chris Wright and Jason Neil. The two Indiana boys are childhood friends and devout Christians, faith that is put to the test in basic training, where their peers and officers denigrate them for praying in public. This is confusing – is Christianity suddenly not tolerated in the military? Also, why is Mendoza, depicted as a violent thug who threatens his fellow recruits with loaded weapons during exercises, tolerated whatsoever? For a film that signals knowledge of military life through terms like “counter column,” the film earns no trust in the viewer’s mind that it is reliably depicting the army, completely killing its messaging. COUNTER COLUMN suffers from major narrative inconsistencies, making the final dramatic payoff of Mendoza’s journey from dope dealer to model citizen seem random instead of inspiring. Instead, watch LAST OUNCE OF COURAGE, RED BIG FIRE TRUCK, and THE SABER, three excellent Christian films about military life, with the volume turned up loud enough to distract your dog from the fireworks happening outside. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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The Blood of Jesus (1941) TEASER
06/21/2026
The Blood of Jesus (1941) TEASER
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! $5 pledge gets you bonus episodes and $20 enters you in our monthly handmade DVD mailing program "Bootleg Bible Study"! This historically important film with an all black cast takes a unique narrative approach in its depiction of the Christian afterlife. THE BLOOD OF JESUS was directed by Spencer Williams, an accomplished black actor and filmmaker with a prolific media career in the 1920s-40s before starring in the television adaptation of AMOS 'N' ANDY. The highly-rated show featured black actors in starring roles, but was eventually cancelled in part due to pressure from the NAACP objecting to its stereotypical depictions of African-Americans. Nonetheless, Spencer Williams should be considered a trailblazer in black American media. In fact, THE BLOOD OF JESUS could be considered the most commercially successful "race film" (low budget independent films meant for black audiences at segregated movie theaters). Watching today, it's easy to understand why it was a success, because even 85 years later, the film's confident narrative and resourceful low budget effects make it engaging. Williams also stars in the film in addition to writing and directing; his character Ras Jackson is a spiritually apathetic man who undergoes a transformation when, returning from a hunting trip, he accidentally shoots his wife Martha, a recent and enthusiastic convert to Christianity. Most of the action depicts Martha's soul retrieved by angels and forging a path to the afterlife. THE BLOOD OF JESUS is refreshingly different from almost every other Christian film we've watched because it portrays the path from death to heaven as a purgatory-like obstacle course where dream logic reigns and the deceased Christian has one more chance to succeed or fail at getting to the gates of Zion. Most Christian films portray deliverance or damnation as instant — say the wrong words before death, and you're plummeted to hell. THE BLOOD OF JESUS is a way more forgiving and imaginative take on the trope. Scored by recordings of a black choir singing hymns and spirituals, the film is evocative and atmospheric, capturing a period of black American history with the confidence of a media craftsman. It's a rewarding and essential watch for anyone interested in film history, black history, or religious studies. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Absolute Dominion (2025)
06/14/2026
Absolute Dominion (2025)
This Christian-leaning film directed by a martial arts expert preaches a confusing mix of liberal pro-science atheism and Christian deism that would be way more interesting if the fight scenes weren't such a slog. It's too bad because ABSOLUTE DOMINION has so much good going for it. Director Lexi Alexander has a genuinely interesting career and an obvious expertise and passion for combat sports. Her most notable film is possibly PUNISHER: WAR ZONE (2008), a commercial failure at the time that has since become a cult classic. She was notable for being the first female director of a Marvel franchise film, but the gritty and hyper-violent take on PUNISHER didn't land well with critics or audiences. Alexander had some famous defenders though -- comedian Patton Oswalt has repeatedly gone on record praising the film. It's probably not a coincidence that he and fellow celebrity fan Alex Winter both appear in ABSOLUTE DOMINION in supporting roles. We hypothesize that both jumped at the chance to support a new Lexi Alexander project with an interesting script. In ABSOLUTE DOMINION, Oswalt plays a fictional influencer/streamer named Fix Huntley who goes viral in the year 2085 AD pitching the idea for a worldwide martial arts tournament where the major world religions each send a champion to fight for religious dominance. In the war-torn dystopian future of 2085, society jumps at the chance for a civil Mortal Kombat-style tournament instead of scattered warfare and bloodshed. The three major world religions, Celestians, Pentotities, and Dashafaris, all send champions, but a last-minute rogue entry named Sagan Bruno steals the show. Sagan represents the Institute for Humanism in Science -- a perfect fighter born of a eugenics project, to a scientist mother and athlete father, neither of which have a relationship with him. Bruno quickly jumps to the top of the competition, but his worldview is rocked when blessings from a supernatural force begin to guide his combat. Could this force be none other than capital "G" God? Or is it just a miracle of logic and reason? It's too bad ABSOLUTE DOMINION couldn't stick the landing because it is undoubtedly a breath of fresh air in a sea of Christian movies with the exact same stereotypical evangelical perspective. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Holy Ghost (2014) TEASER
06/07/2026
Holy Ghost (2014) TEASER
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! $5 pledge gets you bonus episodes and $20 enters you in our monthly handmade DVD mailing program "Bootleg Bible Study"! From director Darren Wilson, the mind behind one of our least favorite films we've ever watched for the podcast (HEAVENQUEST: A PILGRIM'S PROGRESS), comes a similarly off-putting documentary about an enthusiastic band of faith healers causing chaos all over the world. The thesis of HOLY GHOST is basically that most preachers underemphasize the Holy Ghost aspect of the trinity -- the invisible force of God that is capable of doing miracles on earth. There's even a term for people who believe that biblical miracles ended after Jesus ascended into heaven: cessationists. The pastors in HOLY GHOST are the opposite -- continualists -- who believe that through prayer they can cause miracles to happen on command. They "prove" this over and over in the documentary by using really obvious social coercion tactics so their prayer subjects will say for the camera that they are healed. In one particularly uncomfortable example, they heal a young man's metal joint by having him bend it many times. It looks painful for the man who is playing along, and watching it happen is an empathy nightmare. The discomfort continues when the preachers take their show on the road to India, saying over and over again that their main goal is to film inside a holy Hindu temple. Why is this a win for Christianity? Because it's impolite? Fortunately, the documentary does end on a high note with about 30 minutes spent at a Korn concert with the members of Korn themselves, healing Korn fans -- many of whom are suffering from various ailments, which isn't really surprising given they are Korn fans. HOLY GHOST is a funny and at times painful watch, a peek into the mind of a brand of Christian narcissism that feels like it's going extinct now that media Christians are more brand savvy. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Black Mamba (2016)
05/31/2026
Black Mamba (2016)
In filmmaker Belinda M. Wilson's video introduction to the BLACK MAMBA DVD, she claims the film is inspired by a real life encounter with a mysterious woman at Wilson's own family reunion who never aged, could never prove her relation to the family, and was suspected of putting curses on people she disagreed with. This reverence for the supernatural forces that guide our day to day lives is powerfully captured in BLACK MAMBA, one of the most impressive DIY auteur films we've ever seen, that deserves to be seen by all film lovers who prioritize work that exists outside of the Hollywood machine. The film was officially released by Bleeding Skull as part of a three film compilation called "Backyard Bloodbaths." We highly recommend purchasing this film via that collection, but also humbly request that BLACK MAMBA be eventually given its own release with a focus on Wilson and her career. BLACK MAMBA stars writer/director Wilson as the titular character, a powerful and evil witch living in an ordinary house in Los Angeles's Crenshaw neighborhood. Structured like a horror anthology, the film revolves around different characters showing up to Black Mamba's door requesting spells and potions to fulfill their earthly needs. The spells never go quite right, mostly due to the recipient's pride, and the consequences are intense and disturbing. We notice this structure is typical to the "black magic" thrillers emerging from the Hong Kong film industry in the 1970s and 80s, where humans delve into magical worlds beyond their understanding, unable to stop the forces once regret inevitably sets in. BLACK MAMBA's punishing scares are technically impressive considering Wilson is creating them with a small team; mutilated genitals, rotting corpses, and trapped souls are used to gag-inducing effect, inserted manically between comedic episodes. Her fast-paced editing keeps visual interest throughout by drawing the eye to demonic apparitions in mirrors, hallways, and bottles. BLACK MAMBA is a wildly entertaining film with an interesting take on spirituality, showing that the punishment for trying to outdo God is swift and dangerous. Purchase BLACK MAMBA via Bleeding Skull's compilation "Backyard Bloodbaths": View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Angel Heart (1987) TEASER
05/24/2026
Angel Heart (1987) TEASER
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! $5 pledge gets you bonus episodes and $20 enters you in our monthly handmade DVD mailing program "Bootleg Bible Study"! The number one rule of being in an "angelslop" movie (a new genre we invented for a certain type of whimsical ~1990s film where angels and demons meddle in human affairs) is a private detective should not be taking the case of a man named Louis Cyphre. Say "Louis Cyphre" out loud if you haven't put it together already. ANGEL HEART protagonist Harold Angel (another pun?), played by Mickey Rourke, fails this test spectacularly, and heads out on an American tour trying to find out the whereabouts of jazz singer Johnny Favorite at the behest of Mr. Cyphre. Angel arrives in New Orleans, where he meets the 17-year-old Mambo priestess Epiphany Proudfoot, played by Lisa Bonet in her first adult role post-COSBY SHOW, which scandalized audiences with nudity and sexual violence that reportedly almost earned the film an X rating. Angel's tumultuous sexual relationship with Proudfoot leads him to a shocking self-realization that becomes the turning point in the case he's building on Johnny Favorite. This plot hits so many "angelslop" tropes common to the genre: the barely-disguised devil played by a famous actor (Robert De Niro in this case), a colonialist view of Black syncretic Christian/occult practices, a plot about a jazz musician selling his soul, and even the shocking final twist. It's still not clear to us exactly what movie's success started angelslop, but we theorize it may have been WINGS OF DESIRE, combined with a broad pop cultural yearning for spiritual guidance as the rise of instantaneous mass media coverage of world crises led people to cynicism and skepticism. Regardless of the cause, ANGEL HEART provides an artistic touch to the angelslop genre that alternates between campy and deep. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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The Prophecy (1995)
05/17/2026
The Prophecy (1995)
This intense Bible fanfiction thriller starring Christopher Walken is now heralded as a cult classic despite not being critically understood at the time of its release. The New York Times described it as "…bad enough to end the recent proliferation of religious thrillers." It's true that the 1990s were filled with religious thrillers -- we at Boys' Bible Study have extensively covered the "angelslop" and "devilslop" that proliferated through the era, with audiences fascinated by Christian pop culture moral frameworks imbued on human life. But the New York Times is completely wrong — THE PROPHECY has stood the test of time as the BEST of the 90s religious thrillers, in part because its timeless tone doesn't rely on the groan-inducing "smart, sexy, funny" humor typical to the decade. THE PROPHECY is instead gritty and otherworldly, with impressive visual effects and character design that rival the HELLRAISER franchise. Its well-researched Biblical scripture lends it credibility, and its fictional expansion of the Bible — centering on a lost 23rd book of Revelation, known only to angels — is written so convincingly it feels nearly realistic. The film takes place in contemporary Los Angeles, where a priest-turned-LAPD detective (Elias Koteas) uses his knowledge of Christianity to solve a case of biblical proportions. A mysterious dead body carrying an ancient Bible with unknown additional text is autopsied to reveal biology in common with an unborn fetus, initiating the detective into a modern-day war between angels and demons over the soul of a disgraced cannibal Korean War veteran whose power could tip the metaphysical scale of evil and turn earth into a second hell. The film is notable for its A-list cast, including a show-stealing appearance by Viggo Mortensen as Satan, and for its treatment of Native American mythology. Although we at BBS can't confirm the film's accuracy, the portrayal of indigenous religion feels well-researched and respectful — a unique fusion of indigenous and western mythologies that reads as a genuine lesson in cross-cultural respect. THE PROPHECY is the rare religious-themed film that is both entertaining and well-researched, stimulating on whatever spiritual level the viewer receives it. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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The Devil's Advocate (1997) TEASER
05/10/2026
The Devil's Advocate (1997) TEASER
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! $5 pledge gets you bonus episodes and $20 enters you in our monthly handmade DVD mailing program "Bootleg Bible Study"! Perhaps the best of the 1990s films fixated on pop Christian themes (that we affectionately call “angelslop” or, if more appropriate: “devilslop”), THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE is a wildly entertaining film that despite being firmly secular, manages to hit a ton of tropes we associate with the Christian film genre. Keanu Reeves stars as Kevin Lomax, a small town defense lawyer with an impressive undefeated winning streak. He’s scouted by Al Pacino as John Milton, the head of an acclaimed New York City law firm, who wants to change Lomax’s life by adding him to the roster. Eagle-eared viewers may recognize the name John Milton as a reference to the author of legendary Bible fanfiction Paradise Lost. This might be your first indication that Pacino’s character is the devil himself, that Reeves’s character is about to make a Faustian bargain, and that the legal system is about to be used as an allegory for Christian morality. This is the most 1990s trope imaginable, an era when filmmakers were obsessed with elevating the mundane by showing it as a backdrop between the battle between angels and demons. Another distinctly 1990s decadence is needing the movie to be “smart, sexy, funny” — when THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE does rarely jump the shark into groan-inducing campiness, it’s when the film attempts to flatter the viewer’s sense of sophistication. However it’s still a welcome nostalgic departure from mainstream movies nowadays that openly market themselves as slop from a trough for the lowest bidder. But it’s the smart writing and impressive production design that makes THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE’s heavy handed tropes and conservative morality feel delightfully predictable instead of tediously formulaic. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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The ButterCream Gang: Secret of Treasure Mountain (1993)
05/03/2026
The ButterCream Gang: Secret of Treasure Mountain (1993)
This sequel to what is now regarded as one of the most beloved Christian films of all time (THE BUTTERCREAM GANG) misses the mark by messing with the original formula. Released only one year after the original, THE BUTTERCREAM GANG: SECRET OF TREASURE MOUNTAIN feels like a completely different series by focusing on a GOONIES-style adventure subplot instead of the friendship between the ButterCreamers. The original idea of the ButterCream Gang is that they were a group of neighborhood boys who do good deeds; the new generation now admits girls (woke much?) and seems to have forgotten entirely about helping the community, save for a lemonade stand fundraiser here and there. Several original cast members returned for round two, yet SECRET OF TREASURE MOUNTAIN picks a new boy named Eldon and introduces conflict based on his insecurity over not being seen as a "hero" among the band of do-gooders. Fortunately for Eldon, an opportunity to gain some much-needed recognition arrives when he stumbles upon an old document, written in Spanish, that appears to be a treasure map on what is now the property of beloved neighborhood figure Mr. Graff. Conveniently, a Spanish archeologist named Dr. Almodovar has recently come to town and can help the children follow the map to a mysterious treasure they hope will raise the funds to save Mr. Graff's property. Little do Eldon and the ButterCreamers know that Dr. Almodovar is actually a descendant of a Spanish conquistador, seen in a flashback at the beginning of the film, attempting to find hidden gold cursed by monks. This is the first Christian movie we've ever watched attributing to monks the ability to put curses on things, but sure enough, Eldon follows the trail to a mysterious local monastery. Can Eldon's pure heart outsmart the conniving Dr. Almodovar and put the gold to good use, preventing Eldon from falling to the curse that has harmed everyone else who tried to snatch it? SECRET OF TREASURE MOUNTAIN has the bones to be an entertaining family film, but its haphazardly paced writing strips away the real story of friendship that made the original BUTTERCREAM GANG become firmly entrenched in millennial Christian nostalgia. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Our Man Kent Episode 2 (2026) TEASER
04/26/2026
Our Man Kent Episode 2 (2026) TEASER
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! $5 pledge gets you bonus episodes and $20 enters you in our monthly handmade DVD mailing program "Bootleg Bible Study"! We continue our immersion into Rev. Kenya Cagle's AI-generated world of secret agents, advanced technology, and an evil white nationalist conspiracy with episode 2 of the AI action series OUR MAN KENT. The past few weeks on our show have been dedicated to delving seriously into Rev. Cagle's AI work, an experience that has been alternately exciting and really tedious. As lovers of DIY film, it's pretty clear that generative AI video is here to stay as the new "folk media" form. Despite a strong anti-AI sentiment from many creatives, another tribe of auteurs finds AI to be cheap, accessible, and capable of building fantastical ideas from the ground up. The same creators that in the past would dress up as a secret agent can now embed their face onto an AI avatar and have him do death-defying stunts for them. This is a bittersweet moment because the charm of low budget live action films is their imagination of trying and failing to recreate Hollywood plots using only the equipment in your garage. On the other hand, AI as a folk media form creates bizarre scenarios and surreal humor that can be captivating, when the video itself isn't constantly warping and nauseating to watch (which is frequently.) OUR MAN KENT lets Rev. Cagle's writing (his strongest quality) shine and takes care of the set pieces, which are dreamlike and even nightmarish. Cagle's author stand-in Agent Kent Cag takes a "drone phone" call in a pool, AI generating the scene as a tableau of unsmiling young women lining each side like palace guards as Cag speaks monotonously to his nagging AI girlfriend, Tasha. Afterwards, Cag goes on a date with a beautiful young woman, only to not notice her drugging his drink, which AI generates as a giant horse-sized pill that fizzes up his entire glass in the least covert attempt at subterfuge ever. OUR MAN KENT is a fascinating watch because Rev. Cagle is closer to realizing his larger-than-life cinematic ideas than ever before, but the generations fall short in ways so off-puttingly bizarre that they frequently make us laugh out loud. Despite this, it's a fascinating piece by a Christian director because its black pride storyline is much more progressive than our usual fare.
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Man of the Night (2026)
04/19/2026
Man of the Night (2026)
For the first time on this podcast, we watched a feature-length AI film, a venture we wouldn't have embarked on if we didn't already trust the creative spirit of the great Kenya Cagle. In fact, none of us on the show had ever even watched an AI feature before, Christian or otherwise. Ethical questions aside, the discontinuous style of AI video, with warping lines, uncanny movements, and constantly changing character models, makes watching for an extended period of time a disturbing experience like a dream you can't wake up from. MAN OF THE NIGHT is a real nightmare of a film, the plot of which concerns a high school basketball star named Damien who is killed by his very evil girlfriend, only to be resurrected by her years later using dark magic. Damien remembers being in Hell, and now feels out of place, a walking corpse who kills on command for his evil witch ex-girlfriend, who has total control over him. Meanwhile, Damien's sister, who was a little girl when he was killed, has grown up and become the police commissioner of New York City, but she is remarkably incurious about a string of murders centered around her old family home. When she discovers the dark secret of her undead brother, it's nearly too late -- she is clinically insane and in psychiatric care, but pulls out of it for one last dramatic showdown where her police force accidentally kills Damien before learning the full story. It's an intense plot made even more intense (and borderline unwatchable) by the hallucinated guts and gore of AI generation. Even watching a movie like this feels like an athletic endeavor -- truthfully, we probably wouldn't have put ourselves through it under any other circumstances. That just goes to show how much we love the Rev. Kenya Cagle, MBA. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Our Man Kent (2026) TEASER
04/12/2026
Our Man Kent (2026) TEASER
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! Have we discovered the first great piece of AI filmmaking? We'd like to believe we are the first Christian film podcast to cover the OUR MAN KENT series, since installment one was released less than two weeks ago and currently has fewer than 100 views. AI seems to be the current artistic focus of auteur Kenya Cagle, an extremely prolific faith-based film director proven capable of creating live-action films such as our favorites THE BOY WHO SAW CHRIST and THIRTEEN MONTHS. AI in Cagle's hands is possibly a way to quickly iterate on fantastical sci-fi ideas, and hopefully not a full replacement for his live-action work, which we love. Despite personal artistic qualms about generative AI’s use in art, t’s undeniable that AI allows Cagle to pursue sci-fi ideas he probably couldn't pull off in live action. OUR MAN KENT contains depictions of futuristic technology such as "drone phones," "guardian angel" drones that serve as personal robotic bodyguards, and Kent's AI girlfriend "Tasha" (whom he communicates with via commands, like Alexa). These tools are deployed by protagonist Kent, a Black secret agent combating systemic anti-Blackness. In this installment, when an evil scientist cancels a university's African American Studies program, Kent's boss (the "Supreme Being") offers him a lucrative opportunity to defeat the scientist and save history. The medium of AI video adds a bizarre, uncanny tone to the piece; character movements and animations such as car rides are unnatural to the point of nauseating, but they add a character that at times makes it delightful to watch. While generative AI's impact on the creative process remains controversial among film fans, and for good reason (critiques of resource usage and creative plagiarism are valid), from a philosophical standpoint it's clear that AI doesn't mask Kenya Cagle's creative spirit. The singular, weird vision of his live-action films is highly present in OUR MAN KENT, allowing the medium to extend his message, even if it makes the film hard to watch at times. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: http://boysbiblestudy.com Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: http://patreon.com/boysbiblestudy Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: http://twitch.tv/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Instagram: http://instagram.com/boysbiblestudy Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/boysbiblestudy
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Old Rugged Cross (2016)
04/05/2026
Old Rugged Cross (2016)
ANNOUNCEMENT: a new perk is available on our BOOTLEG BIBLE STUDY is a monthly physical media series where we send you handmade and custom-edited DVDs of faith-based films curated and assembled by BBS cohost Scott. Sign up by EOD Sunday April 5 to receive the first DVD "MURDER BIBLE"! Any signups after that date will be automatically enrolled for the May 2026 drop and beyond. Thank you for your generous support! Happy Easter! Three days before the resurrection miracle that defined Christianity, Jesus died on an Old Rugged Cross for the sins of podcasters everywhere. Therefore, it felt right to review OLD RUGGED CROSS, a drama about two pastors fighting for hearts and minds in a small town, by beloved auteur Donald James Parker. Parker, a frequently reviewed filmmaker on this podcast, had an insanely productive streak from 2014–2016, during which he wrote ten feature films, sometimes directing and starring in them. These include his famous GRAMPS series as well as the legendary THE UNEXPECTED BAR MITZVAH, some of our favorite movies we have ever watched in the faith-based genre. OLD RUGGED CROSS is a reskin of some of Donald's favorite topics, and although it lacks some of the explosive novelty of THE UNEXPECTED BAR MITZVAH (a film that prominently featured an Orthodox Jewish family arguing about Tim Tebow), OLD RUGGED CROSS keeps the viewer engaged with an entertaining story and dialogue so unmistakably Donald it boggles the mind. For example, OLD RUGGED CROSS's three main characters are groan-inducingly on-the-nose: Parker himself plays the pure-hearted Pastor "Evan Shepherd," his evil rival is the scheming Pastor Luke "Wolf," and his love interest torn between the two holy men is "Anita Rock." Seriously. Some other tropes from Parker's work are presented well here: Pastor Shepherd observes a Saturday Sabbath, as Jewish people do, because this is more biblically accurate. Also, Shepherd is portrayed as being so devout a Christian as to alienate his wife and daughters, a biographical aspect of nearly all of Parker's self-cast characters. Why this very specific creative choice? Parker's expressive performance as Shepherd and the jaw-dropping dialogue of his script combine in a pleasing way that makes OLD RUGGED CROSS one of the most solid and entertaining entries in Parker's filmography, a real compliment considering his catalog contains some of the most legendary contemporary Christian films of all time. If your name happens to be Anita Christianfilm, look no further. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on X:
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Not a Fan. (2011) TEASER
03/29/2026
Not a Fan. (2011) TEASER
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! This millennial-coded 2011 DVD Bible study series uses Facebook lingo, which was very en vogue at the time, to encourage people to upgrade their relationship with Jesus from casual to committed. NOT A FAN, the brainchild of minister Kyle Idleman, uses a clickbait-style title to grab your attention: what do you mean you're "NOT A FAN" of Jesus? What Idleman means is that on Facebook at the time, you could click a thumbs up to "become a fan" of something you liked, a shallow and performative gesture that serves as a metaphor for going through the motions of Christianity without participating with your full heart. Going to church every Sunday is meaningless without loving the process. To illustrate this, Idleman released a serial drama of 6 DVD study episodes about fictitious Eric Nelson, a cutthroat executive and "pleasure seeking rebel" who commits his life to Christ after a stress-induced heart attack. These episodes were condensed to a feature film, which we watched this week, with interstitial sermons narrated by Idleman himself. Nelson's family, shocked at his sudden transformation, does their best to keep up with his newfound enthusiasm but doesn't exactly love the life changes. The Nelsons go from a McMansion in the suburbs to a humble farmhouse, and Eric goes from the boardroom to the soup kitchen. They stay devoted to their patriarch and go along with what he says, but don't really "feel" the love and resent the new Christian austerity. A not-so-shocking tragic ending gives the Nelsons new perspective, and the entire family learns to be Followers of Jesus, not just Fans: people whose devotion to Christ has caused them to take on great sacrifice and inconvenience. Idleman basically says that if you're not feeling the burn of Christianity in your life, you're probably not going hard enough. NOT A FAN is delightful for its now-extremely-dated branding and vocabulary, but is overall a total slog, with constant scenes of death and suffering that don't do a good job of "selling" the Christian lifestyle to casuals. But then again, this DVD is for the Followers, NOT the Fans. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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It Ain't Worth It: Athletes for Abstinence (VHS, 1986)
03/22/2026
It Ain't Worth It: Athletes for Abstinence (VHS, 1986)
A team of the world’s top athletes has weighed the pros and cons and concluded: sex really ain’t worth it. On IT AIN’T WORTH IT: ATHLETES FOR ABSTINENCE, a whimsical 80s VHS tape with obligatory hip hop aesthetic influence meant to appeal to the youth, former pro basketball player AC Green tells teens that sex is an unnecessary temptation best handled by just saying no. Green’s career spanned 16 years in the NBA, during which he set the record for perfect attendance with 1,192 consecutive games played. This earned him the nickname Iron Man, which fans mockingly shifted to Iron Virgin in response to Green’s proud claims that he remained a virgin bachelor throughout his entire NBA career as a devout Christian waiting for marriage. Green was surely aware of jokes at his expense, but he held firm to his convictions and spent his career running youth ministries, using his celebrity to connect with Christian teens. While that is a nice sentiment, materials like his tape IT AIN’T WORTH IT provide glaringly inaccurate statistics about sexual health topics like contraceptives and also refuse to acknowledge the real reason teens have sex: because they are horny. Green’s thesis seems to be that teen sex culture is purely a result of media influence and social pressure, ignoring that biological processes begin in adolescence that make people actively want sex. There are good reasons for teens to manage these impulses until they are more mature, but the clumsy testimonies of Green and his teen cohorts instead rely on fallacies such as claiming everyone who has sex will get AIDS and that condoms fail 50 percent of the time. Unfortunately for Christians, the message remains laughable and feels as if they themselves are asexual (as opposed to abstinent.) If Christians can’t relate to sexual desire, they will never reach teens on an authentic level with an abstinence message. Also, although an original rap song seemed to be a requirement for youth media in the late 80s and early 90s, here it does little to help the abstinence cause. It simply ain’t worth it. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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A Race of Giants: Our Forbidden History (2015) TEASER
03/15/2026
A Race of Giants: Our Forbidden History (2015) TEASER
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! Much of what we know about history is a lie. The biggest lie of them all, both literally and figuratively, is the coverup of the existence of giants. Primary sources such as the Bible (heard of it?) speak of a race called the Nephilim. These larger-than-life offspring of angels and human women have been depicted in documentaries such as NOAH by Darren Aronofsky. Nephilim were said to have been destroyed in the Great Flood, but a race of giant people supposedly persisted on Earth into contemporary times. If this news comes as a surprise to you, there is one group to blame: the evil Smithsonian Institution, whose alleged purpose is to destroy the remains of giant skeletons so the lie of evolution can persist. Fortunately, some brave souls like the creator of A RACE OF GIANTS boldly proclaim this history and were able to sneak it past the censors. The documentary teaches us a few things: 1) that throughout North America, the bones of giant humans and even fossilized remains of their giant tools (pause) have been found and then lost through a series of unfortunate coincidences or outright archaeological malice; 2) that the legend of Big Guys has existed in many ancient cultures for a reason, because sometimes guys are really tall; and 3) that certain findings, such as the famous Guadalupe Woman skeleton embedded in rock formations inappropriate for the generally accepted carbon dating of Earth, supposedly go as far as to disprove the very concept of evolution. Without coming across as overtly Christian, A RACE OF GIANTS makes the case for the young earth creationism described by the Old Testament in a compelling, albeit confusing and roundabout way. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Faraway, So Close! (1993)
03/08/2026
Faraway, So Close! (1993)
Wim Wenders’s intriguing and often baffling sequel to WINGS OF DESIRE reunites several actors from the original but places them in a shifting narrative that can be difficult to follow. At times FARAWAY, SO CLOSE! even transforms into a straight mafia crime thriller, a tonal detour that feels sudden and disorienting. In many ways it is clearly a sequel, tying off threads from the first film and expanding its angel mythology in ways that feel almost like fan service. We revisit Damiel, the former angel now living as a human with his trapeze artist wife Marion, happily running a pizza place called Angel’s House. The film even repeats the musical cameo idea from the original. Where Nick Cave performed live in WINGS OF DESIRE, here we get a performance from Lou Reed. But other additions feel like they belong to a completely different cosmology. Willem Dafoe plays Emit Flesti, whose name reversed reveals his nature as “Time Itself.” The character functions almost like a demon, tormenting angels who have fallen to the human world. These ideas add intriguing layers to Wenders’s angel lore, but they also make the mythology far more complicated than the elegant framework established in WINGS OF DESIRE. That earlier film’s bold choices, like casting Peter Falk as himself but secretly a former angel, ultimately reinforced its central themes. FARAWAY, SO CLOSE! often feels both too close and too far from its source. The film’s ending highlights the tension. Cassiel is killed during an elaborate plot involving a hijacked barge, only for the tragedy to turn into relief when he is restored to angelhood. It raises an odd implication. If fallen angels can simply become angels again after death, the sacrifice at the heart of WINGS OF DESIRE begins to lose its weight. Still, this is not to say we did not enjoy watching FARAWAY, SO CLOSE! It is a fascinating and often strange expansion from one of cinema’s most distinctive filmmakers, even if its ambitious ideas occasionally threaten the elegant foundation of the original. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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Escape from Hell (2000) TEASER
03/01/2026
Escape from Hell (2000) TEASER
Subscribe today for access to our full catalog of bonus episodes, including 2+ new episodes every month! Sensationalist Christian filmmaker Danny Carrales has a talent for conveying the urgency of Jesus’s teachings. It’s one thing to hear the words that those who don’t accept God’s grace will be doomed to a life of eternal torture; it’s another thing to actually see this happen to a guy who seemed like a pretty decent person but unfortunately dropped dead before he decided to accept Jesus. In an instant, he’s floating above his body, traveling through a pillar of light, until the direction suddenly switches and he screams in terror as the sky around him turns to fire. This is an example of the high drama level of ESCAPE FROM HELL, cowritten by Danny Carrales and Michael Martin, the team who gave us the high-octane rapture movie THE GATHERING and also HEAVEN’S WAR, a CGI-heavy story of the eternal spiritual struggle unseen to humans. ESCAPE FROM HELL inhabits a couple of well-traveled Christian movie tropes. It takes place in a hospital, a frequent setting for faith-based movies, since it’s a hub for souls entering and leaving Earth. Also, similar to Australian thriller TABERNACLE 101, the film’s action largely concerns a scientifically minded explorer inducing a near-death experience in himself to prove the idea of life beyond death. Both films are like FLATLINERS for Christians, and both show that taking such a risk costs opening the door between worlds in very uncomfortable ways. ESCAPE FROM HELL is probably the more successful of the two for its tight structure, extremely laid-on-thick melodrama of family members crying while their loved ones’ souls are experiencing eternal damnation, and weird, campy experimental techniques, like putting a sign saying “Ducks Be Not Proud” on the hospital roof so dying souls can read it before getting to heaven. Every collector of Christian films should have a copy of this VHS on their Bible study shelf, along with THE GATHERING and FINAL EXIT, the Carrales film we plan to watch next. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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City of Angels (1998)
02/22/2026
City of Angels (1998)
Did Wim Wenders’s WINGS OF DESIRE give a generation of angel films their wings? The seminal German film certainly inspired one major American box office hit: Brad Silberling’s CITY OF ANGELS, a loose remake cleverly relocated to Los Angeles. Recently Boys’ Bible Study has moved into full-time analysis of the Y2K angel boom in American cinema, and CITY OF ANGELS may be the most essential film of that wave, spawning countless imitations. One of the movie’s main draws is its A-list cast. Nicolas Cage plays Seth, an angel stationed at an LA hospital, where he becomes unprofessionally enamored with heart surgeon Dr. Maggie Rice, played by Meg Ryan. Dennis Franz, fresh off his fame from NYPD BLUE, co-stars as Nathaniel Messenger, a hedonistic patient of Dr. Rice who is later revealed to be an angel who chose to “take the fall” and live as a mortal. The idea of angels longing to inhabit the world of flesh is a key trope pioneered by WINGS OF DESIRE, where the fallen angel was portrayed by American actor Peter Falk playing himself. CITY OF ANGELS expands on this idea by making the fallen angel a physically weak, unremarkable everyman, offering Seth a grim preview of the fate that may await him if he gives up eternity for love. After an emotionally intense courtship that unfolds across planes of existence, Maggie and Seth commit to each other, and Seth rejects immortality in order to experience human love and sex. He gets to do this exactly once before a cruel twist of fate, seemingly engineered by a mischievous God, befalls the newly mortal couple. CITY OF ANGELS lays its melodrama on thick and can feel like a tedious watch more than 25 years later, but it remains a well-made artifact of an era when nondenominational angels dominated the airwaves and lived vividly in the public imagination. Humans live briefly, angels live forever, and movies exist somewhere in between. View our full episode list and subscribe to any of our public feeds: Unlock 2+ bonus episodes per month: Subscribe to our Twitch for livestreams: Follow us on Instagram: Follow us on Twitter:
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