Not Today

A true eye opener to a major world issue.

I was fortunate enough to be able see this movie at a film festival and meet the director who is affiliated with the church in Orange County from which the film was completely funded, hence the Christian overtones and I just want to say how amazing it was for them to put the time and hard work into promoting such an awful in grievance that so many will turn a blind eye to. This isn't the first movie that has opened my eyes to human slavery, especially were children are involve, but it certainly has left a lasting impression and I encourage everyone to see this movie young and old alike. I actually took my 13 year old niece with me and she is now spreading the word and wearing the bracelet to support this cause. I truly believe I children will be the ones to change these awful abuses in the future so educating them now is the way to start. Just like the movie points out, none of us is free if one of us is enslaved.

I believe this movie was very well done. The acting was actually good, especially for a Christian made film. The story line was great, sad, but great. It's unbelievable what happens to these little girls around the world. This movie definitely shines a light in the dark places we don't like to look at. Human-Trafficking is everywhere, even in America. Some of the people I have talked to about the movie before it came out told me they didn't want to watch a movie about Human-Trafficking. It's not a topic they like, or want to talk about. Well, I don't know anyone who likes it, or enjoys talking about it, but we can't close our eyes to it. We can help stop human-trafficking. I would recommend this movie to anyone mature enough to watch it. It might be a bit too much to see for the younger crowd, but it's a topic that should be discussed.

Shot mostly on location in India this is the story of an America young man who helps a Hindu father recover his daughter whom he has been forced to sell (unknowingly) into sex slavery. NOT TODAY is in the same genre as TAKEN (2008) and SOUND OF FREEDOM (2023). But when you consider that NOT TODAY had 10% of SOF's budget, and 6% of TAKEN's budget, NOT TODAY comes out as a terrific movie. Yes, TAKEN is the relentless thriller, much like INDIAN JONES: THE DIAL OF DESTINY, that the backers of SOUND OF FREEDOM claimed to beat on opening day. (A lie). As noble as any movie is that exposes the sex trade (which all three above do), SOF is boring, NT is authentic, TAKEN is thrilling, but IJ:TDOD beats hands down as a box office coupe. Of course, IJ:TDOD is not about the sex trade. I only bring it up because SOF backers were claiming to have beat it at the BO. They didn't by a factor of 60:14 on opening day, and by the end of the weekend, it looks to be like 249:21. NOT TODAY is also valued because as a faith film (which I typically dislike) it didn't preach. It just showed rawly the situation and let you make up your mind. Hats off to Jon VanDyke who worked very hard to get it done without much support.

Not Today was a heart-wrenching, marvelously acted film. A young man who comes from a wealthy background goes on a trip to India with his friends. After partying at a nightclub he gets wasted, and they pretty much abandon him. When they meet back up with one another he's unhappy with them for having left him on the street, but they don't seem to care. They return to the US, but he finds himself on a mission to rescue a little girl whose father sold her into slavery. When he first encountered the little girl and her father, who were homeless, he was rude to them. He kept telling the man to just get a job or stay with friends. He thought people could rise out of poverty overnight, which exemplified that he lived a sheltered life and was out of touch. Obviously it was wrong for the girl's father to sell her. But you have to think: very few of us who live in Western, industrialized countries know what it's like to be that poor. Child slavery is a sensitive topic. I feel like the film crew did an excellent job of its portrayal. As for the negative reviews: I don't know why people watch a Christian movie, and then complain about Christianity being brought up by the characters throughout the whole movie. What did you think you were watching? To be quite honest, I saw some of myself in the main character, when it came to his lack of faith. Several times he questioned if there was even any point in trying to find the little girl because she might not be alive. The challenges I've experienced were small, but sometimes I struggled with having faith in positive outcomes. I recommend this movie 100%. I guess if you're not a Christian, the dialogue about God and praying might annoy you, but I personally found it to be inspirational.

This has to be one of the worst films I have seen.

'Not Today' has an important message, but sadly it is not the main one..... The religious hard sell is. To a non-believer such as myself, the endless references to God, the church and prayer are appalling. One or two references I can tolerate. But this!? Furthermore, the reasonable quality picture was frequently defaced underneath a layer scrawl. The subtitles, if indeed they can be termed that, since they were not 'sub', appeared randomly all over the screen in random fonts, colours and sizes. They were often made more distracting by being dynamic too. All this, when the viewers' attention should be focused on the images of the appalling conditions and hardships faced by the little girl and her father pictured in the background. On the DVD, I even had the subtitle option turned off, but this distracting 'arty-farty' nonsense remained.

Maybe the makers will think to remake, re-cut or re-edit this to play it straight and simple. Cutting the abundant reference to religion should also broaden its appeal and increase awareness of how badly too many people are still treated in today's world.

In my case, the DVD now resides in the rubbish bin, one of the few discs I have purchased that are not worth enduring for a second time.