His Only Son (2023)
Christian movies seem to be the cinematic dark horses of 2023. Jesus Revolution overperformed at the box office, grossing over fifty-one million, and now we have His Only Son, which surprised everyone by opening at number three its first weekend and it looks to keep going strong.
The film is also significant because it is the first in history to not only have its theatrical distribution crowdfunded, but director David Helling has personally invited theatergoers to crowdfund free tickets so as many people as possible can see it. In a lot of ways, this film is unique.
His Only Son primarily focuses on Genesis 22:1-19, in which Abraham was told by God to go to Moriah and sacrifice his son, Isaac, to God as a burnt offering. It sounds horrific, not only because the idea of sacrificing one’s own child is abhorrent, but Abraham was also told by God that he would be the father of a great nation, that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. How could that happen if his son was dead? Not only that, but as a follower of God, Abraham would have been repulsed by the idea of human sacrifice, which was something only pagans did.
We already know the worst doesn’t happen. When God saw the depths of Abraham and Isaac’s obedience, he made provision for the burnt offering in the form of a ram that had gotten caught in some bushes.
Since eighteen verses aren’t much to build a feature around, the film fills in Abraham’s backstory and the events leading up to what Abraham thought would be his ultimate sacrifice. We see Abraham’s wife, Sarah’s anguish at being barren, which was a shameful thing for women in that time, we see Abraham constantly remembering God’s promise and pleading with God to let him take his son’s place, growing more and more tormented as the group gets closer to Moriah.
The film does take artistic license, but only where there is already a gray area. We don’t know the names of the men who went with Abraham and Isaac, so the film calls them Eshcolam and Kelzar. We don’t know exactly what went on from day to day while Abraham and Sarah waited for Sarah to get pregnant, and the anguish is so palpable that when Sarah finally is pregnant the relief is equally palpable.
We also see the group meeting a bunch of robbers on the way to Moriah, which isn’t outside the realm of possibility, either, although we don’t know for sure if it happened. It’s a good touch, though, because it gives us a chance to see what kind of man Abraham was in his later life and how remarkably strong he would have been, and with the limited source material there isn’t really a chance for that otherwise.
Other than that, the film is meticulously accurate, right down to the finishes on the characters’ clothing and the general griminess of living out in the wilderness. The color saturation is realistic except for the flashback scenes, many of which have a harsher feel, as if Abraham is judging himself and wondering if there’s any way he could have avoided being on the road to Moriah.
Audience questions are anticipated and answered, mostly when the characters are sitting around the fire at night. There’s no way to do it justice, especially in such a small space; it has to be seen to get the full impact.
His Only Son is not a sermon masquerading as a film. David Helling knows how to tell an effective story and present it in a compelling way. His scene composition is beautiful, with a lot of the shots looking like paintings. The emotions of the people in the film as well as the message are clear but not heavy-handed; all bases are covered, and it doesn’t matter if those who take them in are believers or not.
Me, I’ve been in the church my entire life. I’ve been a Christian since I was almost eleven. I’m a little jaded when it comes to Christian films because so many of them are, well, not that good, but I was literally fighting off tears because His Only Son is just that powerful.
His Only Son is currently in theaters. Rated PG-13.
My grade: A+
Principal cast: Nicholas Mouawad, Sara Seyed, Daniel da Silva, Edaan Moskowitz, Arianna White, Alexandria Lior, Scot Cooper, Luis Fernandez-Gil, Ottavio Taddei, Reji Lukai, Kevin Kapellas
Written, directed, and edited by David Helling.
Thank you. I was wondering if I wanted to watch this. You've convinced me.