Between the Walls

I found this movie meaningful and enjoyed watching it. The actors were fine. It was filmed well despite a low budget. Toward the end there was a perplexing scene when a couple of the characters burned some household contents that released toxins in the air. A character even said " what's that smell?" That statement along with the black smoke showed the people involved knew that was not a good choice. There are safe ways to dispose of items. They could have had one of the characters say " Well we can't burn, that would cause harm to people, let's do this instead." Other than that, I liked the ending and the storyline. I think this would be good viewing for anyone. Valuable lessons to be learned on surrender and forgiveness.

The only reason I rented this film was because it was not listed as a Christian film. Who could know the Family Friendly rating and the WYSIWYG Film Festival were Christian! So not knowing the above and only briefly skimming the notes, I tried to get into this film despite the terrible acting, hoping the intriguing backstory might be prove to be worthwhile.

The main character's dad was a dictatorial Christian control freak who recorded everything in the house. He was both an omniscient and vengeful figure whose mode of interacting with his son is through punishment. The similarities to the god of the old testament are unmistakable. These tapes are not discovered until the house is to be repossessed.

While there were some interesting juxtapositions where the main character as an adult relives his painful past through his father's tapes, the movie's heavy-handed fundemenalist message was overbearing. According to the filmmakers humanity by nature is inherently depraved and we are not worthy of anything unless we surrender to God. This is not a Christian message.

The only way I can justify having wasted 72 minutes of my life is to warn others.

If you, or someone you know, are hurt or angry because of the past, let them view this film, and be set free! It was engaging; full of emotion from the main character. Loved it!