REVIEW: Movie “Persecuted”

Posted on 18 July 2014 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

This is a public service announcement.

I prefer to be kind about Christian movies. That said, save yourself some irritation. The newly released “Persecuted” isn’t good.

“Persecution” addresses a theme which I think is real: there is/will be persecution of true Christians who don’t water down the Faith and compromise with the world.

This movie, however, is weird. It is as weird as its writing was bad.

I actually groaned a couple times, it was so bad.

I liked the fact that the flick is solidly against the “COEXIST” types… you know the bumper-stickers. The true baddies are the promoters of “indifferentism”, that all religions are equal, and all distinctions between religious need to be eliminated so that we can all just get along. Apparently, this is a government plot in order to eliminate religious terrorism.

Don’t get in the way of these baaaad government coexisters! They’ll open up a can of whupass on ya!

No! Really!

The plot is incoherent. There are numerous editing problems (I especially liked the moment when the main character presses the down button for an elevator and in the next shot we see him going up). Elements stretch credulity waaaay past the snapping point (the main character running about with a bullet in the center of his back for a looong time, even out-running various bad-guy government agents).

No no no. Just Don’t Go.

That said, the makers, clearly non-Catholic Christians, tried to get some Catholic stuff into the movie. For the most part, the Catholic stuff was treated with respect. I thank them for that. However, I suspect that nobody bothered to ask any Catholics anything about the Catholic stuff they put into the film. Actor (former Senator) Fred Thompson, who plays a priest, should have stuck with the re-mortaging commercials. Anyway, it is great that the makers treated the Catholic elements with some respect, as poorly executed as they were.

Another positive comment:

The movie made me ponder how easy it is/will be to entirely destroy the reputations of priests and bishops. Be careful, Fathers. When the real persecution comes, there is little that we will be able to do. They’ll get us, no matter how careful we are. But, in the meantime, stay frosty. Keep your heads on swivel. Watch your six. Develop situational awareness.

Meanwhile, here’s some COEXIST for ya!