154. Let There Be Light; movie review

LET THERE BE LIGHT
Cert 12A
101 mins
BBFC advice: Contains moderate drug references

Every year, there are two or three Christian films which I presume are intended to persuade those who are non-believers or agnostics.
The problem is that they tend not to be very good. Indeed, Let There Be Light is so poor that it reinforced the views of both Mrs W and me as non-believers rather than giving us food for thought.
This is the directing debut of Kevin Sorbo, already a familiar figure as an actor in Christian films,  who also stars alongside his real-life wife Sam, the movie's writer.
He plays a renowned atheist who has made lots of money writing books and on speaking tours, denying the existence of religion and using the death of his nine-year-old son as evidence.
The atheist is represented as a hard-drinker who struggles to form relationships with people with whom he was previously close.
If it had not been for the everyfilm quest I would have abandoned the movie there and then. This stereotypical characterisation implies that those of us who don't believe have a warped moral compass.
I would argue that ours is a live and let live code which doesn't instruct others on spiritual beliefs but respects everyone's. Just because I am an atheist doesn't make me uncaring or an alcoholic.
This then poses the question of Let There Be Light's target audience. Is it aimed at a zealous Christian community in the hope that they will nod their heads in appreciation or is it an attempt at conversion?
Kevin Sorbo's character asks why God would allow child cancer and where his love and compassion exists during genocide in the name of religion.
He cannot reconcile the ghastliness in the world with a God of love.
And yet such vehemence is changed overnight by a near-death experience during which he had a dream.
So, the very man who put facts before faith turns the argument on his head without any evidence to support his conversion.
Indeed, as the movie goes on, there seems to be less reason to praise the Lord.
Both Mrs W and I were frustrated by the garbled message of Let There Be Light but were more disappointed by the weak acting and direction.
We were stumped at why the Christian groups which funded the film didn't insist on a more compelling movie to accompany its message.

Reasons to watch: If you need the Christian message to be reinforced
Reasons to avoid: Its wooden presentation

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 3/10

Did you know? The United States has seen a dramatic rise in its nonreligious (atheist and agnostic) population, from just 1.32% of the population in 1900 to 15.1% in 2010. Over the same period, Christians have dropped from 96.4% to 72.0%. 

The final word. Sam Sorbo (who also wrote the script). I came to the understanding that atheism is also a faith in and of itself, it just occurred to me, I wonder what it would be like to be a big atheist and have my faith challenged, in the same way that my children’s faith is challenged. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that’s a film I’d like to see, the world’s greatest atheist, can something happen to him that changes his world view. The Christian Film Review

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