Director: Kareem Mortimer
Run time: 104 minutes
Movie Trailers are below…
I must say I enjoyed watching Children of God. So much so I actually went back and watched certain scenes of the movie with the director’s commentary. Children of God is based of a short film titled Float (you can watch it below) by director Kareem Mortimer.
This movie had many characters and dynamics that reminded me of the movie “Crash” on some levels…you know the characters whose lives are inter-twined or in some way they cross paths through out the movie. This is ok with Children of God because of the numerous points and issues that this movie is attempting to focus on and how they are written in the script.
Just some of the issues include…Homophobia, gay bullying and violence, depression, bisexuality, down low lifestyle, religious dogma and hate speech from the church, political laws and regulations, loveless relationships, family drama, self discovery and coming out…just to name a few.
They are addressed well and you will be able to relate to something in this movie. Some may become personal for you as it did for me concerning past and present situations and events.
The main character is Johnny; a smart white gay young man who is shy, depressed, bullied, confused, a hypochondriac and is on the verge of flunking out of art school. His love interest is Romeo; a closeted young black man who is somewhat of a free spirit, plays in local band, has a overbearing religious mother and currently has a girlfriend.
Romeo lives on this island where he plays in a local band at a bar for tourist. It is also made known early that Johnny and Romeo also graduated from the same high school years before.
The preacher Reverend Ralph Mackey; a fire and brimstone, anti-homosexual, pulpit pimp who is (you guessed it) on the down low and secretly sleeps with men…hence his hypocritical nasty ass transmits a venereal disease to his wife. He has a great line in the movie…”You have to give people something to hate, it brings them together.”
Lena visits the island of Eleuthera on “church business”…to get signatures from the locals to present to the Prime Minister in Nassau to stop the passage of a gay rights bill. By the way she is close friends with Romeo’s mother…they grew up together in Nassau. This is why I used the “Crash” reference because they are on an island and everyone knows someone you know.
Even though some of the acting in some scenes was a little unbelievable, for the most part the actor’s performances are good and overall this was definitely a good movie because of the way it tackled some of the issues mentioned above. I also thought the cinematography was very good through out the movie.
The full length movie is so much better than the short film Float and the actor who plays Johnny in the full length movie is a great actor and more masculine compared to the actor who plays Johnny in Float. The endings are different between the short film and the full length feature. The full length movie ending was very unexpected and I think was more realistic and relevant.
If you rent or purchase the DVD (I rented it through NetFlix) I would recommend going over to the “extras” and listening to some of the director’s commentary to get a back story of the scenes, characters, and the reasoning certain elements are in the film.
I give Children of God 3.5 our of 5 stars due to it’s content and the way it handles the subject matter.
The short film Float along with the trailer for the full length movie Children of God are below. Also there is a short interview with the actor who plays Romeo, Stephen Tyrone Williams
– Octavius
Thanks for the review.
I bumped into this film by accident last night and initially, the acting and storyline seemed cliched but as the film progressed, the depth and complexity grew – I found myself feeling sorry for characters with despicable behaviors.
I caught this movie on television and found myself very moved by the performances. Though no one in this film will win an Oscar, they communicated to the viewer on a very personal level. I give 4 and half stars. The ending was sad.
Just from reading about Children of God, watching the trailers, and hearing the interview by Stephen T. Williams, I will probably buy the DVD. I firmly believe in inter-racial relationships, and like to see them portrayed in films.
Am I the only one who saw the ending of this film as being both sad and happy? Remember the scene where Johnnie & Romeo talk about what happens to a person when he or she dies? I’ll say no more because I don’t want to give away an important plot point. (I’m a “lurker.” Not a “Spoiler.”)
But, stil–I can’t believe I’m the only who saw a happy ending to this film as well as a sad one. Guess I’m just too weird. (And it wouldn’t be the first time someone besides myself pointed it out.)
Still, “Children Of God” is a wonderful film. And I recommend it, highly!