''Jesus Revolution'' is a 2023 American

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle. Based on the autobiographical book of the same name co-written by

Greg Laurie Greg Laurie (born December 10, 1952) is an American evangelical pastor, evangelist, and Christian author who serves as the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, based in Riverside, California. He also is the founder of Harvest Crusa ...

, the film follows the teenage Laurie ( Joel Courtney), Christian

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

Lonnie Frisbee Lonnie Ray Frisbee (June 6, 1949 – March 12, 1993) was an American Charismatic evangelist in the late 1960s and in the 1970s; he was a self-described "seeing prophet". He was known for his hippie appearance. He was notable as a minister and e ...

( Jonathan Roumie), and pastor Chuck Smith (

Kelsey Grammer Allen Kelsey Grammer (born February 21, 1955) is an American actor and producer. He gained fame for his role as the psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'' (1984–1993) and its spin-off ''Frasier'' (1993–2004, and again F ...

) as they take part in the

Jesus movement The Jesus movement was an evangelical Christian movement that began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, Central America, Australia and New Zealand, befo ...

in California during the late 1960s. Anna Grace Barlow and

Kimberly Williams-Paisley Kimberly Williams-Paisley (née Williams, born September 14, 1971) is an American actress known for her starring role in '' 10th Kingdom'', roles on ''According to Jim'' and ''Nashville,'' as well as her breakthrough in '' Father of the Bride'' ...

also star. The film was theatrically released in the United States by

Lionsgate Lions Gate, Lion Gate or similar terms may refer to: Gates *Lion Gate at Mycenae in Greece *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the ancient Hittite city of Hattusa, now in Turkey *Lion Gate, one of the entrances to the gardens of Hampton Court Pala ...

on February 24, 2023. Although it received mixed reviews from critics, the film grossed $54 million worldwide against a production budget of $15 million.

Plot

In 1968, the stern yet respected

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

pastor Chuck Smith realizes his church,

Calvary Chapel Calvary Chapel is an international association of charismatic evangelical churches, with origins in Pentecostalism. It maintains a number of radio stations around the world and operates many local Calvary Chapel Bible College programs. Beg ...

, is slowly dying and he is unable to connect with the younger, live-free

generation of teens and young adults. His daughter, Janette, gives a ride to a colorful hippie hitchhiker named

, who says he is traveling around and telling people about the

ministry of Jesus The ministry of Jesus, in the canonical gospels, begins with Baptism of Jesus, his baptism near the River Jordan by John the Baptist, and ends in Jerusalem in Christianity, Jerusalem in Judea, following the Last Supper with his Disciple (Chri ...

. Smith, at first suspicious of Frisbee, eventually warms up to him and welcomes him to his church and his home. To the dismay of Chuck and his wife, more hippies soon arrive at the Smith house. After Lonnie introduces Chuck to a newly-formed band called

Love Song A love song is a song about love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. Love songs can be found in a variety of different music genres. They can come in various formats, from sad and emotion ...

, and the group performs a song in his living room, Chuck develops a new attitude toward the young people. He and Lonnie end up joining forces and start a successful movement to evangelize hippies and other youth. Meanwhile, high-school student

runs away from his

Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) is a federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools and also in some middle schools across the United States and at US military bases across the world. The progr ...

class and joins a girl named Cathe and her friends, who "turn him on" to drugs at a

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful Rock music, rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and her "electric" ...

concert. At the concert,

Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from "bold oracle" to "publicity hound". Accordin ...

is seen preaching the value of

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...

for self-discovery. However, Greg sees that various hippies are dangerously irresponsible; at one point, Cathe's sister gets sick from a drug overdose. When watching a movie, Cathe gets angry at Greg for not caring about the dangers of drugs and ends their friendship. They reconcile the next day, with Cathe telling Greg she found Lonnie's church and he should attend with her. After getting baptized at Pirates Cove, Greg and Cathe find solace at Smith's and Frisbee's church, though Cathe's establishment and conservative parents are not enthusiastic about Greg. The ministry explodes in popularity, being seen as a "Jesus Revolution" and the young attendees as "

Jesus freak The Jesus movement was an evangelical Christian movement that began on the West Coast of the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s and primarily spread throughout North America, Europe, Central America, Australia and New Zealand, befo ...

s". Christian conversions and group baptisms in the Pacific Ocean follow as membership at Calvary Chapel grows to such proportions that services have to be held outside under a large tent. ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine does a cover story on the movement in 1971, and both Lonnie and Chuck are featured on Kathryn Kuhlman's weekly television show. Lonnie and his wife, Connie, start having difficulties in their marriage, and Lonnie believes Chuck is trying to diminish his contribution to their joint ministry. Lonnie eventually leaves for Florida with Connie after increasing disagreement with Chuck. Before Lonnie's departure, Greg offers to take over a ministry branch of Calvary chapel in Riverside. He eventually marries Cathe and becomes a pastor of his own church, which becomes Harvest Fellowship. At the end of the film, the credits reveal that Smith and Frisbee reconciled and both are remembered as founders of and leaders in the widespread

that started at Calvary Chapel.

Cast

* Joel Courtney as

** Jackson Robert Scott as young Greg Laurie * Jonathan Roumie as

as Charlene, Greg's mother * Anna Grace Barlow as Cathe, Greg's love interest *

as Chuck Smith *

Nic Bishop Nicholas Bishop (born 19 September 1973), commonly credited as Nic Bishop, is an English-born Australian actor. He is best known for his television roles as Detective Peter Baker on the soap opera ''Home and Away'' (2004–07) and as Peter Du ...

as Dick * Nicholas Cirillo as Charlie * Ally Ioannides as Janette Smith, Chuck & Kay's daughter * Julia Campbell as Kay, Chuck's wife *

Mina Sundwall Mina Sundwall (born October 23, 2001) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Penny Robinson in the 2018 Netflix television series ''Lost in Space''.She also provided the voice and motion capture for Thrúd in the Santa Monica ...

as Dodie * DeVon Franklin as Josiah * Charlie Morgan Patton as Connie, Lonnie's wife * Jolie Jenkins as Pilar * Shaun Weiss as Vietnam Vet

Production

The film was announced in June 2018, with Jon Erwin and Jon Gunn writing the screenplay, Gunn directing, and

, Kevin Downes, and the Erwin Brothers producing.

Jim Gaffigan James Christopher Gaffigan (born July 7, 1966) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. His material often addresses fatherhood, laziness, food, religion, and general observations. He is regarded as a "clean" comic, using l ...

and Joel Courtney signed on in the lead roles in June 2020, although

eventually replaced Gaffigan. Filming occurred in

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

in March 2022, with several other scenes being shot on-location in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Release

The film had its premiere at the

TCL Chinese Theatre Grauman's Chinese Theatre, known as the Chinese colloquially and officially billed as TCL Chinese Theatre for sponsorship reasons, is a movie palace on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United S ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

on February 15, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on February 24, 2023 by

. The film was released internationally, starting in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on March 23, 2023, with

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and other countries set for release in the subsequent months.

Home media

''Jesus Revolution'' was released for VOD on April 11, 2023, followed by a

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

release on April 25, 2023.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, ''Jesus Revolution'' was released alongside ''

Cocaine Bear ''Cocaine Bear'' (released as ''Crazy Bear'' in some countries) is a 2023 American comedy horror film directed by Elizabeth Banks and written by Jimmy Warden. It is loosely inspired by the true story of the " Cocaine Bear", an American black ...

'', and was initially projected to gross $6–7 million from 2,475 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $7 million on its first day (including $3.3 million from previews from the days leading up to its release), raising weekend estimates to $14 million. It went on to debut with $15.8 million, finishing in third place. In its second weekend it made $8.7 million, continuing to outperform expectations, finishing in fifth place. In its third and fourth weekends the film made $5.1 million and $3.5 million, respectively, to pass $40 million and briefly become the highest-grossing Lionsgate movie since 2019. The film eventually passed $50 million.

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "A+", giving director Jon Erwin the most films to earn the grade (following 2015's '' Woodlawn'', 2018's '' I Can Only Imagine'' and 2021's '' American Underdog''). Those polled by

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a fil ...

gave it a 97% positive score, with 89% saying they would definitely recommend the film. Joshua Encinias of ''

MovieMaker ''MovieMaker'' is a magazine, website and podcast network focused on the art and business of filmmaking with a special emphasis on independent film and film festivals. The magazine is published on a quarterly basis, and is known for the annual l ...

'' attributed its positive reception among audiences to "high production values and a storyline that works even if you don't care about Christianity." Rahul Malhotra and Simbiat Ayoola of ''Collider'' noted that

Christian media Christian media refers to media that is Christian, or refers to various aspects of Christian demographic. As a genre its conventions originated in sermons, Christian literature, literature, and gospel music, and it has been adapted into Christ ...

is an "underserved audience", that "the production company did its due diligence to create buzz", and "despite mixed critical reviews, ''Jesus Revolution'' has proven to be rather popular with its target demographic." Michael Foust of ''Crosswalk'' gave it 5 out of 5 stars, writing that "although the script carries the film, the cast makes it believable." Noting that Jonathan Roumie is best known for his portrayal of Jesus in '' The Chosen'', Foust added, "it doesn't take long to put that in the back of your mind and imagine him as Frisbee." Dennis Harvey of ''Variety'' gave the film a positive review, saying the film is "polished and persuasive without getting too preachy." In another review,

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of reviews of movies on ...

said that "''Jesus Revolution'' takes a fascinating period of American history – the hippie movement and its associated fallout within the Christian community – and transforms it into a bland, TV movie-of-the-week experience."

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an American online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. ...

writer Alan Ng gave the film an 8/10, saying, "I associate three things with faith-based films: bad acting, an outrageous, overly positive message, and a shoe-horned sermon. Thankfully, this film avoids all three elements." Nell Minow of ''

RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...

'' gave the film 2 stars, pointing out that the film skips details like one of its real-life characters' substance abuse and homosexuality, and quoted Jack Kornfield saying "after the ecstasy comes the laundry." Kathy Schiffer of the ''

National Catholic Register The ''National Catholic Register'' is a Catholic newspaper in the United States. It was founded on November 8, 1927, by Matthew J. Smith as the national edition of the '' Denver Catholic Register''. The ''Registers current owner is the Ete ...

'' noted, "If you're old enough to remember the 1960s and '70s, you'll find Lionsgate's upbeat new film ''Jesus Revolution'' to be a walk down memory lane... As a mainstream Christian film, it focuses on a feel-good faith message, which is more than welcome amid today's culture."

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{Erwin Brothers Lionsgate films American drama films American films based on actual events Films about evangelicalism Films set in California Films set in 1968 Films set in 1969 Films set in 1970 Films set in 1971 Films shot in California Films shot in Mobile, Alabama Hippie films Jesus movement 2020s English-language films 2020s American films