Paul, apôtre du Christ

This movie has Paul in prison for the second time, in a Roman pit of misery. He is often beaten, often wondering what God's plan is. Yet, he is convinced that he is where the Lord wants him to be. Paul's life reminds us that the early church suffered much for the sake of the Gospel. Why would these men and women risk their lives for "fake news"? They would not. It was because the Son of Man came, lived and died to be resurrected after 3 days and is now seated at the right hand of the Father that Paul, Luke and others risked their lives.. Paul's life was totally given over to proclaiming this Good News. "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Philippians 1: 21. Wonderful movie, filled with GOOD NEWS!!!

As a christian, I totally recommend this movie for people who read Paul's letter and know about his life with the early christians communities. The screenplay was well written and was faithful to the scripture, which makes the movie a great witness to the life of Paul who changed after the apparition of Christ to him when he was on the way to persecute believers in the middle east.

There's no getting around it - this movie is heavy from start to finish - not a moment of comic relief. It is a very sobering film, showing the terrible toll on lives that can occur when evil tyranny is unchecked. It was a fascinating time in history, and an interesting segment of Paul's life to explore -- rather than his 30 years of ministry and 10,000 miles of travel, we get only a focused glimpse into his final days in Nero's prison, with flashbacks to his original time of conversion.

On the upside: This movie is very well done from a production, acting & cinematography aspect. It keeps you engaged; its almost like watching a mystery unfold, due to its intensity. Jim Caviezel (as Luke), Olivier Martinez (as the Roman prefect over the prison), and Joanne Whalley (as Priscilla) were all brilliant in their roles. I mean, really brilliant. (I also loved Joanne in her role of Claudia in A.D.; and Jim Caviezel became one of my favorite actors after "Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Passion". But Olivier was the real surprise - extreme talent.)

On the downside: Most of the movie feels hopeless. What ever happened to the miraculous power and intense encouragement that Paul operated in during all his years of ministry? I feel that the creators of this movie completely underplayed Paul and stripped him of all the elements that made him who he was in the kingdom of God. That was extremely frustrating, since it presented a powerless, hopeless Christianity, other than to be martyred and receive eternal life. Not very appealing. It made me dislike his character more than like it.

In conclusion, the movie is definitely worth seeing for the artistry and story, if you can handle the context, the embellished story line, and a depressing outlook through most of the movie. But if you only like "feel good" movies, you might want to avoid this one.

I like movies of faith though I'm not religious. This is one of the better ones to come out recently. The acting, directing, and especially editing are far superior to Sampson, another recent movie of faith which was supposed to be a blockbuster and failed miserably in every imaginable way (including the box office.)

Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018) really does uplift. Whatever you believe, a story of someone willing to endure torture and still maintain his faith, while preaching that great evil can only be conquered by greater good, is someone to be admired. This film can bring tears to your eyes, make no mistake. It can also bolster your resolve to be a force for good.

It moved slowly at times or was it simply that we expect a higher body count and more explosions in our films? I thought it gained tremendous momentum towards the end and I left feeling very satisfied, uplifted, and quite entertained. This is a very unusual film in many respects. Its very downbeat, almost like film noir...really. Many scenes are quite dark and the lighting effects are really unusual and I found the pleasing. The acting was fine and the and the movie had a very original feel despite everyone knowing about the Apostle Paul and his unique life. I got to say that Christianity has strayed radically from the vision that Paul had!! It was interesting to me how closeups were used in so many scenes. There were some rough scenes including the final ones but that was reality back then and still is in many parts of the world. I recommend this film highly for anyone looking for something deeper that offers a unique perspective on many levels. Definitely worth your time whether you are into religion or not. Good one.