Faithful Films: An Exploration of Habitus and Implicit Functionality in Recent Evangelical Cinema

Abstract

Evangelical film experienced a resurgence in the twenty-first century. Since this resurgence began, Great American Pure Flix and Kendrick Brothers Productions have set their films apart as the standard by which all other evangelical films are measured. In this project, I explore the plots of several Kendrick Brothers Productions’ films, as well as Great American Pure Flix’s God’s Not Dead series, to analyze their themes and overall structure. I suggest that these films be divided into two genres, which I have created, to classify them according to their purposes. I will put these themes in conversation with current Religious Studies scholarship to argue that the films of Kendrick Brothers Productions demonstrate underlying assumptions and commitments of the evangelical worldview. Using the same approach, I will demonstrate that the God’s Not Dead series instructs its audience in the proper embodiment of the evangelical worldview.