Persecuted

Persecuted is a profoundly conservative, Christian ideological take, guised as a classic Seventies paranoid thriller. Certainly unique, this is another targeted release, specifically aimed at groups sharing its beliefs.

While Remar does his best to resist the film’s melodramatic tendencies — to no avail, ultimately — Thompson is the only one here who actually grounds the proceedings during his few moments on screen.

The Lord works in mysterious ways but Persecuted works in blundering, obvious ways, straining a Christianity-under-attack theme through a dopey thriller.

The not so fair and balanced film might have made its religious themes palatable if it worked reasonably well as a thriller. But director/screenwriter Lusko shows no flair for the genre, his muddled execution lacking any sense of pacing or suspense.

If Persecuted wasn’t such a dire thriller, its sweaty fear of pluralism (Obama’s “We are no longer a Christian nation” speech gets handed to Davison’s evil senator here) might at least be amusing.

At a time when the world offers us no shortage of examples of what actual religious persecution looks like, for a film to indulge in this particular brand of self-righteous fearmongering isn’t just clueless or reckless; it’s an act of contemptible irresponsibility.

There's no attempt to convince us that the world is being corrupted by people who haven't accepted the Gospel; it merely assumes we agree with that idea.

I'm a liberal who never saw the movie and I thought it was terrific! Why would anyone believe that the eight professional film reviewers who strongly disliked this film are all liberals who never saw it? Oh, wait, it's because they ... believe. No evidence necessary! How blissful that must be!

It's an excellent movie that liberals hate, that is why they are giving bad reviews and they haven't even seen the movie. Remember folks, Progressives are enemies to USA and the Constitution!!

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Proudly Not a liberal, however I would also like to think I am not insane. Plot aside, the structure, filming and acting were so low quality it would have shelved before airing by the Lifetime/hallmark channel if it was made for TV . As for the "plot" , it is nothing more than "I am a victim" fetishism. There is no Christian message . With all the places in the world where people are persecuted, fueling paranoia about a non existent threat is a waste. I hope and pray that anyone who liked this movie examines their life, and seek help.

Okay, look: if you can freely gather with dozens to hundreds of other members from your church congregation and freely drive down the street to a wide-release movie theatre that's freely showing an independently-produced film about how your religion is being persecuted, your religion isn't being persecuted.