Premarital is a new film released just in time for Easter. The film stars Jim O’Heir as Pastor Stewart Whitaker. Pastor Whitaker seems to lead an ideal life as head of a quiet midwestern mainline Protestant church. When his eldest daughter returns home with her fiancé, Alan, the family is overjoyed to welcome their new member. That is, until they learn this fiancé is an atheist. Pastor Whitaker then sets about converting Alan before the wedding. One might expect a series of Moms’ Night Out-type hijinks to ensue. And to some degree, that is exactly what happens, but not without some caveats. Heavy Spoilers Ahead!
Now, the film, not being your standard “atheist finds Jesus” faith-based film, isn’t a problem in itself. There’s a reason the God’s Not Dead films are divisive, as they often feel like a joke to anyone outside of a faith-based audience. The film is also well-acted. There are some legitimate laughs to be found, and the shenanigans throughout are entertaining enough. To a degree, there’s legitimate merit to working out our theological differences and agreeing to disagree for the sake of family. However, the film is much saltier and more adult-skewing than its advertising might suggest, with plenty of R-rated language flying about. F-bombs and S-bombs? Not exactly something you’d expect from what’s billed as an offbeat Church comedy. Add in some sexual content that, while not particularly graphic, again steered the film to “keep the kids home” territory. This isn't a Kendrick Brothers or Erwin Brothers type outing by any stretch!
Now, I’m an adult. I’m not some prude who blushes at anything more gritty than Touched by an Angel. I can appreciate a film for adults that aims for frank discussions, but I didn’t quite feel the film was as interested in that as it pretended to be. Early on, we can see the fault lines developing with the often hypocritical and heavy-handed approach Pastor Whitaker takes to converting Alan. (i.e., giving him a copy of Dante’s Inferno to scare him about hell, some cliche young-earth buzz phrases, and outright tricking him). Meanwhile, it becomes increasingly clear that Pastor Whitaker’s own house is not in order. Each of his 5 teenage/adult kids, including the bride-to-be herself, has to some degree wandered from the teachings preached by dear old Dad.
An unfortunate reason the Christian hypocrite is such a popular Hollywood stereotype is that it’s rooted in a lot of truth. There’s room for a film to explore these hypocricies through a faith-based lens. However, the film missteps by venturing into the same kind of low-hanging-fruit caricatures Pastor Whitaker uses to convert Alan. If Pastor Whitaker’s approach is based on fallacies, stereotypes, and myths, why is it acceptable that the film treats him in that same way, as a walking stereotype? The film goes overboard to establish just how out-of-touch he is with the plank in his own eye: one daughter secretly pregnant out of wedlock, one son secretly gay, his wife carrying on an affair with the local megachurch pastor (which he’s aware of, but they pretend to still be together so he can keep his job as pastor). By comparison, the son whose wife has to write his seminary essays seems like barely an inconvenience. Another daughter has become an unabashed liberal cliche who regularly rambles against the patriarchy. I suppose she could be seen as the film’s attempt at balance, showing that both sides can be hypocritical. And one moment I appreciated was when said character was called her out for being just as intolerant as she had been as an avid Christian preacher. But for every decent message, I found myself finding some concerning thematic caveats.
Several opportunities for some theological thematic heft are sidestepped in favor of a more muddled “can’t we all just get along?”- type approach. There are a lot of intriguing subplots that don’t really go anywhere. The bigger problem is that it’s really only Pastor Whitaker who has to undergo any meaningful change. He’s the only one who really has to moderate what he believes. He needs to accept his gay son, his pregnant and unmarried daughter, and that he should finally divorce his wife and get remarried in order to find happiness. Most of the other characters get to, more or less, continue believing as they did at the film’s start. And while Alan does show signs of a possible spark of belief, the film doesn’t really explore that in any kind of depth. Fair enough, as the lengths Pastor Whitaker goes to convert him shouldn’t really be particularly convincing. But if the main conflict of the film is that Pastor Whitaker wants to get Alan to believe, when said conflict is so stacked against the Christian from the get-go, what is a believing audience really supposed to take away from it? We’re all supposed to get along, but the Bible-believing Christian is the only one who needs to change in order to make that happen? At best, that’s a gross oversimplification.
I ultimately cannot fault Premarital for not being a standard “faith-based film.” Such films and their heavy-handed messages often do more harm than good to the cause of portraying Christianity to the world. The problem is not that the film doesn’t have a message. The problem is that it does. The film falls into many of the same trappings as many faith-based films, reducing characters to caricatures and poking at deeper issues it doesn’t have the courage to explore properly. The film is funny and entertaining enough for 90 minutes, and for adults well-grounded in the whys of their faith, it can perhaps be a fun watch, and maybe even offer some food for thought. That said, the R-rated language adds nothing of value to the film. Coupled with the film’s already problematic themes, this one could struggle to resonate with a Christian audience. This is a shame since the ingredients for a thought-provoking film are here, if only they were allowed to better come together.
J.J. Francesco is a longtime contributor to the NRT Staff. He's published the novel 'Because of Austin' and regularly seeks new ways to engage faith, life, and community. His new novel, 'When Miracles Can Dream,' is out NOW!
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