(SPOILER WARNING!!! This article does contain spoilers, if you haven’t seen the movie, just see the first paragraph to be informed without spoilers!!!)

War Room may be the cliched Christian movie with subpar acting, but the message the movie gives is very clear, and can inspire the right person going through what the movie went through.

Rating 3 Stars

I am a Christian, a Seventh-day Adventist to be exact, and I do practice the religion pretty faithfully. i may not be the typical Christian that people and the media may precept, and I can be more to the liberal side of faith and religion, butone thing about me is that it is important to me, and I try to keep my Christian characteristic in serving others and bringing htem closer to God. To me that is what being a Christian is all about. I’m a big supporter of Christian media whether it is on youtube, TV, and even films. When Christian movies started to get going, it always makes the mistake of falling into cliches, corniness, and some really bad acting. With that said, it is starting to get better and better. It starting to have better stories and writing, better acting, and better productions. It is getting to a point where the mainstream is starting to put attention to the movies it brings out and becoming successful. For me, I look past the cliches and subpar acting, and I look at the message it is trying to relate to the people that watch it. Is the message clear, and is it set to inspire. I have a friend, Anthony Hackett, who is working on his production for Christian films with Sonset Friday Entertainment. Check out his work on youtube under the same name, and if you haven’t seen his first movie Catastasis, I strongly suggest you should check it out.  Lately, I can honestly say that the Christian movies are doing their part in inspiring and teaching people to come closer to God and to have faith in him. It is only getting better. Some of my favorite Christian movies, Facing the Giants (and it’s horrible acting), Flywheel, Fireproof, The Climb, Courageous, and God’s Not Dead. As for this movie War Room, who are produced by the same people of Facing the Giants and Courageous, I’m very surprised how well this movie is doing at the box office, and that is a good thing. This may be a sign of things to come for this genre, and I’m ready to share the experience with you all, and hope to inspire as well.

What I Like: This movie has a very simple message, but many people can relate this today. When it comes to marriage and family we have to keep God first in everything. When things go wrong, we tend to forget that God is in control, and that’s when Satan comes and try to destroy us, but if we let God lead in the times of trouble, everything we need will fall into place. It also teaches us about the power of prayer, and how God can answer them. It also teaches us about forgiveness, even though some people we know don’t deserve it, we have to swallow our pride and forgive the person, and let God deal with the issues they bring. All in all, through God, everything will fall into what is best for you, when you put it in His hands. It is a great message, and what i can relate is the power of prayer, and the need to forgive, and let God deal with it. It is a remotivator for me to keep doing what I need to do. The main character, Elizabeth Jordan played by Priscilla Shirer, acted very well and with a lot of emotion incorporating the powerlessness the movie has to offer. She shows how human we can be, but with God, we can be powerful emotionally.My favorite character in this movie is Miss Clara played by Kara Abercrombie. She was the inspiration to go ahead and serve God, and save a family. Her acting was really powerful in helping Elizabeth to keep God first and let Him be in control. She gave some powerful quotes as well. My personal favortie is the coffee one, when she gave a lukewarm coffee to Elizabeth which she didn’t like, and she tells her that god doesn’t like people who are lukewarm in their faith. A short and subtle scene which gave power. Her final prayer at the end of the movie was moving and inspiring as well. I believe she Miss Clara really made the movie, and was the catalyst in giving the message to other people. Another powerful scene was when Elizabeth was going around the house casting Satan, she may have looked crazy doing it, but it was intense to see. That was her turning point in giving her burdens to God, and let Him deal with it, and kicking out Satan.

The So So: The story of this movie really did remind me a lot of another movie from the same company, Fireproof. About a marriage that was dismantling, but through God, and changing of yourself can help you make it work. War Room did give more elements of prayer, but to me it was almost the exact same story. I give Fireproof the edge cuz it had more action dealing with being a firefighter which made the movie more thrilling. While War Room, gave a more simple approach about family and faith. I love action and intensity, and in that regard, War Room took a step back and was a little underwhelming for me. Not to say it wasn’t good, cuz simplicity we can relate more, but when it comes to watching movies, I don’t mind being in the edge of my seat.

What I Didn’t Like: The movie’s acting was subpar, not hilariously bad like Facing the Giants, but not great either. The direction could’ve been better, and took a big step back from Courageous, but I can’t really judge it by its acting. Mainly because, I am used to it when it comes to Christian movies. There are a lot of cliches, and the biggest one is how the person that needed God the most, quickly converts back. The story really tries to develop the characters and have them turn back to God, but realistically it takes time for people to convert. That’s my biggest gripe when it comes to Christian movies, and the writers really need to find a better way. I know it is not easy, but I’m sure God can inspire them to find a way. The scene where they were about to get robbed and Miss Clara rebukes the guy and all of sudden he leaves. That was just corny for me.

Overall: This movie has a clear message, and can inspire people who may be going through the same struggle. Once you look past the cliches and subpar acting you can see how God can help and inspire you. To me, I expected better, but I know that they will do better through God’s blessing!!!

Rating: 3 Stars

(Sidenote: It Follows- Those of you who do read my reviews know that I don’t watch horror movies, but with the great reviews this movie received, I made an exception. The movie definitely had a unique story, about a person receiving a curse where an entity follows them, and they can’t let the entity touch them. The only way for the curse to end is to pass it along sexually. It sounds weird, but the movie made it really creepy and tense when the events are happening, and i give it credit for that. However once the movie starts developing, it turns to the old rom com of horror movies where it was stupid to watch, and ending horrifically. They tried with this movie, and I see more of a metaphor with this story about STDs which can make you think.
Rating: 2.5 Stars)