A fascinating sci-fi alternate reality thriller with a fundamental reality twist that would put Hitchcock and the writers of the Twilight Zone to shame. Imagine a world where Christians were victims of oppression and persecution in the United States. As hard as it may have been to conceive of such an outlandish alternate reality (much less make a film about it), the team behind GND2 were Kubrickian in making this film. The idea itself is worth 10/10 stars on its own, all the way to its conclusion of an ordinary schoolteacher besting an Orwellian justice system. It puts everything in perspective, as the oppressors become oppresses (the shoe is on the other foot, so to speak). The film carefully parallels the persecution of non-Christians by seemingly earnest (but deceptive) believers, and completely switches it around! There were some faults, of course. Some of the legal jargon was misused (as it depicts a civil suit, yet the heroine is warned of criminal liability), and the presence of some expert opinions didn't really seem to be relevant to the case. Also, the dialogue did seem, well, unrealistic (but such is to be expected of Sci-Fi films). Overall, however, I felt transported to another dimension at the film's onset, one where Christianity was routinely shunned in the US. I felt as if I were really there. The one thing that stuck out, though was the audience: It didn't seem like a sci-fi prone audience, although the other viewers seemed even more convinced of this truth of this alternate universe than I was. I give it 8/10 stars.
Review of God's Not Dead 2
