Children of God

I'd read reviews elsewhere that were mostly high in praise of this movie, so I ordered it. I really liked the Bahamian life shown as it is away from the casinos and cruise ship areas. The acting was good, especially by the two leading guys, Johnny Ferro and Stephen Tyrone Williams. There is a great progression of self-understanding in short order. Photography and filming was very good, including beautiful scenery. Editing was good too, with excellent continuity. The music was a treat. It seemed to also be Bahamian. I'll be looking for more from these actors and director. I definitely recommend this movie and am glad to own a copy.

This film tells the story of a shy white guy in Bahamas, who is bullied and outcast because of his homosexuality. He meets a handsome man during a trip to find inspiration for his paintings, and his life is changed forever.

It is probably the first time that I watch a film from the Bahamas, and I am fully blown away. First, the technical aspects are great. I can see they used really good equipment. The picture quality is sharp, and the shot of the moon is just so clear. The lens just for that shot must have cost a fortune! Second, the story is very intense. There are two stories, one main story about the white guy, and the other story about the church clergyman. These subplots dive deep into a land where being gay is hard. The active homophobia spread by some sectors of the society shatters lives in paradise. As one of the characters say, he spreads homophobia because it gives people a reason to unite. It is very sad but true.

I truly enjoyed watching "Children of God"". I have not expected the level of complexity and depth shown in this intense film, and I really hope it will find more audiences.

It's rare that we get a glimpse into the various social strata of Bahamanian life, so this film had an immense amount of promise to it. However, the overall acting and situations were just a bit too "out there" to be believable. Yes, I'm sure there are closeted preachers and thugs who prey upon the fears of gays by day and prowl for men at night. But the depths of the hatred from these characters in the film made them seem more like villainous caricatures than 3-dimensional people. But I'm giving 5 stars for effort, as well as the allusions the film made towards spirituality and the afterlife...the only non-preachy part about this film that respectfully and intelligently left it up to the viewer to decide.

Is it that people are disappointed in the lack of sex or why is this pretty amazing first gay feature film from the Caribbean so much panned?

It's not the gay love story that's at the center here, but pseudo-Christian homophobia, and I would venture to say that no film has so far taken this issue to such lengths. True, that makes for a bulky watching experience, what with the issues all the characters have: The fag-hating preacher who is a closeted homosexual himself, his STD-infected wife who diverts her doubts into anti-gay action, the sensitive painter, the free-and-easy closeted opportunist... it really feels like a play, but quite intentionally so.

And none of these characters are so far away from reality - if you're from a hyper-Christian environment, then you will know for a fact how much hypocrisy and denial they endorse... a lot of preachers in my native Romania talk just as hateful as those in this film, and a lot of them are likely to be closeted homosexuals themselves.

'Children of God' is less of a story than a statement, so don't watch it if you're asking for serious character development or story structure in a film. However, if you're wondering how the equal rights issue can be addressed in an environment where PC doesn't protect you, then this is your film.

The characters in this film are all one-dimensional. They are divided into hateful bigots and joyous but equally obnoxious life force characters. And they constantly make speeches at each other. The only exception is the artist hero who is monosyllabic and apparently brain dead (only because he's repressed). Of course, he is redeemed in the end by the joyous life force guy. Why can't people in gay film fest pictures speak and act like real people? Everyone in this toothache of a cookie cutter gay film fest feature acts like he's on stage. How anybody could confuse this affliction with a good movie beats me. Only for the least discriminating of gay film fest attendees. Its IMDb may have something to do with the director's friends and relatives who seem to be legion.