DAVID ADAMS watches An Interview With God…
An Interview with God (PG)
In a Word: Thoughtful
Brenton Thwaites stars as Paul Asher and David Strathairn as a man claiming he’s God in ‘An Interview With God’.
“It’s a well-constructed film with some solid acting but in the end the story, written by Ken Aguado, proves a little too predictable. And while it’s a thoughtful film about faith, it doesn’t quite manage to break through the conscious sense that you’re watching a film, an observer to the events appearing on the screen.”
What would it be like to speak with God face-to-face and ask Him all the hard questions that bug you? That’s the premise of this new movie from Giving Films, the same company that made last year’s excellent Paul, Apostle of Christ.
Brenton Thwaites (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Giver, Gods of Egypt) plays reporter Paul Asher, a religious affairs journalist who has just returned from a stint in Afghanistan where he came face-to-face with some hard questions about faith – including his own.
Back in the US, he is struggling on several fronts – his relationship is falling apart, he’s trying to help friends he met in Afghanistan through some tough times and he’s grappling with what his own faith means – when he finds himself interviewing a man who claims he’s God (played by David Strathairn, of The Bourne Legacy, Darkest Hour fame).
To be held over three sessions, the interview gives Asher the chance to ask hard questions about suffering, good and evil, and even Satan – whom the interviewee describes as “over-rated”, but as the sessions go on, he grows increasingly dissatisfied with the answers he’s receiving.
There’s a bit of an ‘is he?/isn’t he’ question posed from the first meeting between Asher and the man claiming to be God and director Perry Lang manages to keep some suspense around that for much of the film. As the sessions between Asher and “God” continue and we’re taken through a survey of some key issues encountered in Christian apologetics, Asher, despite his efforts to deflect attention away from his own life, is led to some deep personal insights.
It’s a well-constructed film with some solid acting but the story, written by Ken Aguado, ultimately proves a little too predictable. And while it’s a thoughtful film about faith, it doesn’t quite manage to break through the conscious sense that you’re watching a film, an observer to the events appearing on the screen.
Still, it’s a welcome attempt to grapple with the everyday questions faith brings with it and it’s sure to prompt some interesting discussions afterward.
