This is, in many ways, a captivating film. It seemed a bit strange to me at first to hear people calling the lead African character “Jesus,” but the film does a good job in revealing the atrocities of a violent society which kills innocent people, and the character of Jesus stands with others to bring about change. Several stories from the gospels are re-enacted. Also, there are now a few female disciples including Phillipa instead of Phillip, and Thadea instead of Thadeus!

There is some brief child nudity but it is not done in an exploitive way. The scenes taken from the gospels include the woman caught in adultery and the sharing of the last supper. There is some violence with the militia theme and a boy uses a gun, and one of the first scenes shows bloody children in a classroom who have been killed, but the statement this film makes is good, both spiritually and politically, and we award it our Dove Seal for ages twelve and above. The scene of the mother near the end placing the beaten, bloody, dead Jesus on the cross is symbolic of what has happened to parents who have lost their children and future. But, as in the gospels, Jesus rises again in this film – a symbol of hope.