film: States of Grace

Jerman's rating: 4 steps forward, 1 steps back. Just so you know I seriously considered giving this film the elusive 5 steps. It goes places other films don't go, and teaches amazing things that are rare in film. Films often teach really good things, but usually stay away from Christ, I may change this rating in the future to a 5, for now, it remains a highly moral film.

I've included two links to other reviews that are very thorough, and worth the read. My job is just to report on the morality of the film with brief notes on artistry and content. They go into morals too, I suggest you read theirs, they say much of what I would have said, they bring up many new things to think about.

This film is an experience in and of itself, its not something you can watch and then lightly pass off. All the characters are real and don't fit the molds that you want to fit them into. The trunky elder doesn't fit, the uber-righteous elder doesn't fit his. There will be some characters in the film that you'll latch onto and identify with. The experience is intense because Dutcher brings up topics that are normally taboo. Real people with real experiences and real problems, they have always existed, but not usually talked about, even though we all experience it. We can see that no one is innocent, everyone has dirt and has a crappy life, everyone is in need of salvation, and grace.

You can tell Dutcher put a lot of work into the plot, interaction, and script. You usually feel what the characters are feeling, whether it be anger, sadness, jarred, confused, hopeless, remorse. The film is very well crafted, the way it flows in atypical of most films, there are multiple climaxes, conclusions, lessons learned, twists, it matches real life closer than most films, things don't ever come to an end, there is always tomorrow, and things could get better or worse.

Two of the main characters are missionaries, you can expect a conversion story to be told. You don't know that there's going to be so many of them, all happening at different paces, everyone at a different part in their own journey. You can see clearly the different stages of change and repentance. You can see how significant change is, from what is being left behind, and compared to the possible future.

I have to add one small note that I especially liked the multi-religious tones. Other religions are accepted and glorified, just as Mormonism is. This is a theme I would like to see more of. Mormons sometimes think that they are the only good church along with being the only true church.

I've been saving the best for last. There are veins all through the movie. The veins are great, they taste good, but you don't know they lead anywhere until the very last scene. You find out what the whole movie was about, you reflect on everything you just watched and see how it ties together. Everything is led back to Christ. The scene is beautifully shot, symbolic and meaningful. Christ is the central theme of the film. This sets this film above most. Narnia symbolically taught about Christ, it was beautiful how it was done, but it was subtle. States of Grace is very blatant and unabashed that Christ is the center, and He is what's important. Its not that the film simply teaches good things and teaches about Christ, but it does it all very powerfully. This is really the most inspiring, uplifting, good film I've seen in a very very long time. (I usually don't like the connotations attached to 'uplifting' but I couldn't think of another word) I can't think of another film that is on par with it in terms of how plain and powerful the Christ theme is taught.

Despite being so moral and upstanding etc. you may hate the film, you may like the film. All I can tell you is that it teaches incredible things, I can't predict if you'll like it. It does have gang violence in it, a few people die (more blood during rescue and healing, not so much during the violence), the film is gritty, not that much is shown on screen, but you know what's happening, or what has happened. You may not like the depiction of the missionaries, I haven't ever seen a film that depicts them correctly, its impossible in my mind. You might not like the mission president or other authority figures, the rules; it was a part of these people's lives, and were very important to them, just as the characters portray. You also might not like how Mormonism has a darker side, a shadow; you may ignore it, but that doesn't make it go away and it doesn't solve the problem, accepting there is a problem is the first step to correcting it. There are plenty of things to not like. There are plenty of things to love. I regret two things: first that I waited this long to see the film, and second that it only made back 7.5% of its budget.


For those who have not seen the movie and would like more to read there is an excellent review by Eric D. Snyder that can be found here. Another good review can be found on imdb's website here.