Show Me To The Father is the 7th film from the Kendrick Brothers, and their first documentary. It is also their best movie yet. This movie makes me hope that they make more documentaries.
The documentary is focused on a handful of men, including Alex and Stephen- The Kendrick Brothers themselves, some football stars, and more, and their stories about how their Earthly fathers have pointed them to their Heavenly Father.
What makes SMTF so powerful is that they are true stories. Their previous stories have God working in unusual ways- such as making infertile women have quite a few kids. This movie is different, they are real testimonies of Christian men whose fathers raised them or led them to honor and follow Jesus.
From a filmmaking standpoint, this is easily the best made film by the Kendrick Brothers. Albeit bright at times, the cinematography is glorious, the camera placed well- simply put, it looked like a regular movie and not a low budget one.
However, SMTF works best emotionally. It did an amazing job pulling my heartstrings and even making me teary. One story is from Jim Daly, founder of Focus on the Family.
Jim came from an abusive home, and also had many foster families, none of whom actually adopted him. He tells the story of how he looked to his Heavenly Father for the love he seeked, rather than looking to man.
This is where the movie hit me personally. I am a child abuse survivor, which occurred from my stepfather, just 5 years after the death of my biological father. Jim's story doesn't exactly match mine (my abuse was more emotional than physical), but we had similar low points and we both had to look to faith for healing.
Football star Deland McCullough also tells his story- how he was adopted and never knew who his real father was, and how he looked to his childhood coach for fatherly guidance. This story (told in parts) has an amazing plot twist that could be ranked up with The 6th Sense or Fight Club- even the 3 women behind me gasped at the plot twist- and again, this is a real-life story!
Among the other stories, we hear from Alex and Stephen themselves, about how their father Larry has helped them grow, and how that has affected their fatherhood, filmmaking, and even their marriages. This includes yet another plot twist in the story of how Stephen adopted a girl from China.
With awful Christian movies like God's Not Dead, Unplanned, Loving The Bad Man, A Matter of Faith, and other poorly made movies being produced, it is wonderful to see a film like Show Me The Father released. It touched me and even made me tear up, and I don't even have kids yet. Even non-religious viewers could be moved by how these Christians have found hope through their faith.
Even if you are not a Christian, if you want a powerful, moving film, there are few that I could suggest more than this one. I owe my deepest gratitude to the Kendrick Brothers for this fantastic movie. This simple Christian movie has what the best movies of any genre does- HEART.
