Rating: 4/5
Jem Starling whispers a prayer before her dance troupe performs an interpretive dance in front of their congregation.
After the service, her parents, Paul and Heidi, tell her that Ben Taylor enjoyed the performance. The rumor is that Ben wishes to court Jem.
A woman pulls Jem aside to tell her that her bra is visible through her dress. Jem tears up, apologizes, and goes outside to cry.
Behind her, Owen Taylor, the pastor’s son, and Ben’s brother, smoking a cigarette, trying to hide. He’s just returned from a mission trip to be back with his wife and kids.
“Out, Satan, out,” she whispers later that night, tossing and turning in bed.
Owen leads the teen Bible study, and Jem acknowledges her crush on him.
Jem continues to spend time around him. But the boundary blurs.
On a camping trip, they stray away from the group, and Owen asks her to dance for him.
Later, he offers to pierce her ear, but she does it herself. Afterward, they kiss.
I've been praying on it a lot, and I just — maybe I'm crazy, but it just… it don't feel like a sin. Swear as the sky covers me, it don't.
Fundamentalism can convince you to doubt your instincts. It presents this impossible litmus. Obey God’s will even without a clear example to follow.
When the “correct” path feels wrong, how do you handle that?
When I was in high school, I courted someone for three years. I didn’t want to. I believed it was God’s will for me. Soon after we broke up, she returned to her hometown and married her youth pastor.
This film shows that a movie can be excellent without needing to innovate. This film may not surprise you, but its spectacular performances and perspective make for a riveting and tense experience.