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I hope you enjoy this months Monthly Movies! Be sure to comment or message me your own thoughts on these great stories.
TV:
· Undone (Season 1)
o Story: This is a mystery story that follows Alma who, after having a nearly fatal car accident, discovers she has a new ablity to warp time itself. Fighting agaisnt her own doubts and the unbelief of the ones she loves, Alma uses her new abilities to discover the truth behind her father's death.
o Year: 2019
o Rating: R (cursing, drinking, some sexual content)
o Gospel Moments: Undone chronicles the events of someone who sees the world far different than those around her, someone who sees beyond the confines of time and space. As followers of Christ we too experience time itself in a whole new way. No longer trapped in the day to day, hour by hour, grind of a consumeristic calendar, we enter into time reoriented around the story of Jesus. The world goes on around us marching on a linear plain, forgetting the past and ever projecting the present into the future, but we live as time-travelers, with a future that has crashed into our present-day, restorying the past and pulling us forward into the world to come, where death itself will be swallowed up by life.
o Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Movies:
· Mystic River
o Story: When the daughter of ex-con Jimmy Marcus is brutally murdered, his two old friends, Sean and Dave, become entangled in the investigation. Eventually Jimmy comes to believe Dave commited the crime as Sean, a police detective, begans to put the peices together himself.
o Year: 2003
o Rating: R (Language, Violence)
o Gospel Moments: Mystic River boasts a terrific cast (Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Bacon) who do a great job of bringing this tragic story to life. Mystic River delves into the themes of justice and the cycles of violence and suffering that effect us all. While by the end of the film it seems that justice will never be served, the story reveals that our sins always catch up with us; like the blood of Abel crying out against his brother Cain, the characters in this story fall into cycles of sin and suffering that consume their own lives and the lives of those they care about most. Only the police detective, Sean, shows a way out. Through repentance he breaks the cycle in his own life. His story, compared to the tragedies of his two friends, points to the life altering truth of grace, that there is a blood that speaks a better word than that of Abel: the blood of Christ (Heb. 12:24).
o Where to Watch: Netflix
· A Ghost Story
o Story: When a couple is seperated by a trageic loss, viewers follow the departed husband across time as he seeks to be reconnected with his wife.
o Year: 2017
o Rating: R (language, disturbing image)
o Gospel Moments: WARNING, this movie isn't for everyone (it is REALLY slow), but I found it to be an insightful look into the secular perspective. This film takes on the tone of Ecclesiastes as its main character, the ghost, wanders through time, revealing the meaninglessness of lifes purusits. In the end he discovers that nothing truly lasts, not even the love he shared with his wife. As a follower of Christ this film saddens me for those whose hope is found only in the things of this life, but it also encourages me because I have been found by the One who has overthrown death itself, by a love stronger than the grave. As the author of Ecclesiastes says: "'Meaningless! Meaningless!' says the Teacher. 'Everything is meaningless!' (Ecc. 12:8) AND "Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." (Ecc. 12:13b-14 NIV). While the things of this life will pass away, God and His commandments will stretch across all of time and space forever. Life has meaning because God is Creator and Judge. Life has meaning because one day Christ will return to set all things right. Desperate attempts to leave some lasting impact on this world are no longer nesseary for the follower of Jesus. We serve the One who has overthrown the grave so our work for Him is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58) because it is done in service to the risen and reigning King who will raise up all who follow Him to spend eternity with Him in the New Creation.
o Where to Watch: Netflix
If you like these kinds of stories you should also check out my book The Bright Abyss. You can find a copy at the link here.