A new movie opens this weekend in limited theatres nationwide. It’s another movie with Christian themes produced by a mega-church, yet this one doesn’t leave you with the feeling that once you become a Christian, your football team is always going to win and your life and marriage will suddenly be restored to order.*

No, this is not your average Christian movie. To Save a Life, written by the youth pastor at New Song Community Church, tackles many issues, including drug and alcohol use, teen pregnancy, cutting, and suicide. (Because of these elements and more, it has a PG-13 rating.) However, according to Plugged In, “To Save a Life doesn’t show dirt to get dirty, it shows it so you’ll notice the paper towel that can clean it up.”

I have not seen this movie yet, but I plan to. Why, you might ask, would I go to see a movie with such dark themes that doesn’t have an easy resolution at the end? Because it is REAL. It is RAW. Real life – real Christianity – is not easy, free of persecution, and always bright and cheery. This movie addresses situations teens – Christian and non-Christian alike – are facing. Secondly, I support the intentions of the film-makers, and the best (only) way I can show Hollywood the kind of movies I support is by buying a ticket at the box office, particularly on opening weekend.

The makers of this film did not set out to make a Christian movie.

They set out to make a movie with Christian themes that non-Christians might actually WANT to go see. I respect this greatly, and I think that more Christians should be making movies with that in mind. You can read an interview with the filmmakers here.

I will post again about the movie once I have actually seen it, but for now, check out Focus of the Family’s review here (contains spoilers) and go watch the trailer over here. Click here to find a theatre near you and purchase tickets.

*For the record, I did really like Fireproof, though the one thing I disagreed with was how they showed that his life seemed to get “perfect” once he got saved. This doesn’t always happen! But I loved that movie and appreciated what those writers/directors/producers were trying to achieve.