Faith Based (2020) | Film Review

There is a long-held mantra in Hollywood fandom that if you’re a struggling filmmaker desperate to make a hit, make a Christian film. It has never been intended as a slight in any way on that respective genre, instead it’s based on simple math: faith based films require miniscule budgets and often yield a tremendous upside. Even though we have seen countless movies about wannabe filmmakers struggling to patch together their dream project, Faith Ba$ed uses this Tinseltown backstory to take this idea to a whole other level.

Director Vincent Masciale and writer-star Luke Barnett (Fear, Inc.) reunite for this comedy which follows two lifelong buddies as they strive to better their current situations. Luke (Barnett) is a pool cleaning daydreamer – desperate to make a quick buck – who finds himself mesmerized by the motivational speaking talents of pyramid schemer Nicky Steele (a pitch-perfect Jason Alexander). Tanner (Tanner Thomason), on the other hand, is a delightfully charming bartender uninterested in personal success, yet comfortably determined to use Schindler’s List as the perfect date movie.

Adopted into a religious family led by Pastor Mike (Lance Reddick), his perpetually disappointed father, Luke learns that Christian films are a shortcut to financial success. Despite knowing absolutely nothing about filmmaking, Luke talks Tanner (and Pastor Mike’s church) into joining his dream project, and together blend their own insane ideas into the most ridiculous concept for a Christian film yet, dutifully titled “A Prayer in Space”. In case you were wondering, the concept involves a stranded astronaut, a Martian space monster, and a prayer…in space. And possibly the return of Butch Savage (David Koechner), an 80’s action icon reborn in the modern era. I’d definitely watch this.

From the outset, it almost felt like Faith Ba$ed was destined to earn the title of Bill and Ted Find Jesus. Luke and Tanner initially come across as vapid dimbulbs, having little business fiddling so incompetently with the heightened emotions a concept such as this can stir.

Yet as the film grows, Thomason imbues Tanner with a tender heart and even a candid respect for religion itself, finding a calling of his own as he goes. Just as Barnett puts his character through the entire process of learning to appreciate that trying to make a cheap dollar off a passionate fan base through duplicity is despicable. Both actors combine to form a genuine and often hilarious duo that has zero business making a film such as this (and even less of an understanding on how digital effects function), yet when they work together honestly, it turns out they might just have a knack for it after all. Essentially, they are Christ’s Disaster Artists.

Vincent Masciale and Luke Barnett have already received a ton of flack in expected circles for the film, much of which arrived before it had actually screened anywhere. No real surprise, we live in a cancel culture that loves nothing more than to shut things down rather than take the time to understand them. Faith Ba$ed is a film with a tiny budget but a lofty concept, and even as the opportunity arrives again and again to slander Christians and other faiths alike, it simply does not do this. All of the articles in the world chastising this film for being disrespectful do not make it so, the filmmakers here have taken the time to inject their satire with plenty of care and large stacks of Lance Reddick’s towering dignity.

Luke and Tanner initially may have zero idea how to make a low-budget Christian film, but their characters in Faith Ba$ed evolve with the story. So much so that in the end, when we finally get a taste of the insanely idiotic concept within A Prayer in Space in all its reverential glory, the truth becomes abundantly clear: Yea, we’d definitely watch this.