Children of God

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.

The Good; Lead actor is cute. A refection of how homophobia is alive in the Caribbean and fueled by religious hypocrisy. The Bad; The lead actor is obviously not gay and uses that to show a character who has so many odd personal issues. But all of his issues are inconsistent, ironic and for that cause very unrealistic in his bi-polar behavior (one minute he is timid and the next he is outspoken). Film starts with a white boy who is not privileged (and expressively so), from school situation to housing and the next he has a car and money to get around a pay a tour guide. Really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The conclusion was a cop out that lacked creativity and imagination.

I can understand a film being rushed for budget purposes, but time should be taken to rewrite and put a story together as a package before filming and not be a bunch of conflicting scenarios just to make a point. Did anyone bother to read and try to make sense of the whole script before committing to it?

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.

Originally a wonderful short movie called FLOAT, CHILDREN OF GOD is a moving, thought-provoking, funny and brilliantly poetic love story. Set in the idyllic world of the Bahamas, a blocker painter (Johnny Ferro) searches for inspiration for his painting but instead finds inspiration in the arms of another lost soul (Stephen Tyrone Williams). Director Kareem Mortimer has set this beautiful story in an island paradise. But the characters he has created keep finding ways to keep paradise from coming true for them. The acting in this movie is revelatory. All of he performances are top notch, especially those by Johnny Ferro, Stephen Tyrone Williams and Margaret Laurena Kemp. The camera especially loves the beautiful and sensuous Stephen Tyrone Williams. This movie is a work of art that should be seen by everyone. Bravo to all involved.

I am not aware how strong is the state of repression and bigotry that governs or not Caribbean societies, but the director and writer of this film is a Bahamian; it is then a shame that the way he addresses these issues derives from a sitcom approach. This is enough to stall matters into a regressive political state.

The boys share a nice dance, and dancing the way they do it, popping out of bed instead of doing the sex routine, and do "how they feel like", as one of the two admonishes, is something we do not come to expect from gay themed movies. This much is true. It is also true that the soundtrack is good, but it is like it does all the work that should be put into a more cinematic approach.

The stories do not interconnect, they are left on the device of some sort of nebulous plea that should run by itself. And then, at the film's final spin, the script abandons its spine for an unabashed melodramatic, quasi-metaphysical last seal that brings the house down.

We then gather lines spoken before that foreground that sentimentalized last installment that comes out of and into the blue. This is bad, and it is a pity because the two leads are good, though Jonny Ferro is better by far.

And then the summer-drenched cinematography proves that colors only are God's children in this film, and humans fail to connect with them, unless it is at the moment of their death. This does not sing the blues, it is just irrelevant.