Father Stu (2022)

I think it is a poorly made and poorly written movie about faith, that shies just short of being a bad Christian propaganda film. The writing and directing gets better in the second half, but it is tonally all over the place in the first half. Mark Wahlberg's performance is very inconsistent, though the best acting of his career is during a scene near the end of the movie. The movie is somewhere in between moving and corny, serious and laughable, intelligent and dumb. The movie is a mediocre mess that I think means well. I don't hate the movie, but I definitely don't like it. The biggest issue with the script is that his journey to becoming a priest doesn't feel genuine. It feels rushed through and doesn't resonate at all. There is a good biography in the movie somewhere trying to find it's way out.

There are definitely good and great Christian propaganda films (I unapologetically love The Passion of the Christ), but this isn't one of them. The Song of Burnadette is another very powerful Christian film about the miracle of Fatima. This is because those are well-written, interesting, powerful, extremely well-made and very well-acted movies. Father Stu is not any of that. The Passion is Gibson's disturbing personal masterpiece imo, we see his faith and his anger in every frame of the film.

5.5/10

Mel Gibson's current girlfriend directed it. So naturally she gave her boyfriend a leading role in the movie.

It isn't because it is a propaganda film that it isn't good, it isn't good because it isn't a well-made movie. It is amateurish on every level. 

Can I have my own opinion please? Is that okay with you?

I didn't tell you that I think your overrating the film due to having low standards did I? You complaining and then misrepresenting my opinion isn't going to change my opinion. Did you ignore the part of my review where I praised other Christian based films?

My review matches my fair rating. If I was letting my bias get in the way I would have said there is nothing good about the movie and rate it 1/10 and I would have also said that the only good Christian movie is a Christian movie that doesn't get made. If that was the case then a masterpiece like Ben-Hur wouldn't have been made, one of my favorite movies and one of the few movies I rate 10/10.

Propaganda definition

information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. 

The movie is taking a true story and using it to sell Christianity, though it is more fair than many of the movie of it's type. The movie clearly has a bias towards Christianity. 

Milk does have a bias as well. There are left-leaning movies that I consider bad propaganda and dislike them accordingly, though Milk isn't one of them. 

Father Stu is a bad movie, regardless of the message. For personal reasons, the Christian position of the movie of course rubs me the wrong way. The first part is an objective criticism of the movie and the latter is a subjective distaste for the message of the movie. Not that people can get better and learn, but that they need Christianity to do it. We are all biased, but there are plenty of movies I disagree with that I think are good movies and like them.

Well-made Christian movies for example that are actually interesting. There are good well-made Christian movies that are pushing Christianity. Father Stu isn't one of them. Father Stu is one step above a tacky made for TV movie and is bad at what it is trying to do. 

I can admit I probably was being unfair using the propaganda criticism, but it has a Christian lean and anti-atheist lean and that is why I personally find it a bit distasteful. It is still a poorly made and poorly written movie. Take out the Christian stuff and replace it with LGBTQ stuff and I would say it is equally poorly made and written. I would then refer to it as a bad LGBTQ propaganda film. The Prom and Rent spring to mind immediately. Both worse movies than Father Stu btw. Captain Marvel and Ghostbusters (2016) are crappy feminist propaganda movies.

Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg were both wonderful in it.

Thank you for bringing that up, because I didn't want to bother northern anymore than I already did.


With my rating system I wouldn't describe a movie as fabulous until at least 8.5/10. Highly recommend 8/10. General recommendation 7/10, maybe 6.5/10.

I think most people would describe 6.5/10 as a moderately good movie.


This is an example of a 6.5/10 review.

The Black Phone (2022) 

This is a movie with a good idea, but the script doesn't completely come together and also involves some cringe-inducing dialogue. It is well-made on a technical level, but the acting isn't particularly good by the child actors. Ethan Hawke is very effective as the villain, but he really isn't in the movie a whole lot and isn't given an interesting enough character to work with. There are essentially 3 things the movie focuses on. There is the kidnapped teenager getting phone calls from dead victims in the basement of a serial killer's house, there is the teenager's psychic sister who is trying to find him and then there is some random guy who is trying to solve the case. The movie is at it's best when it focuses on the kidnapped teenager and his interactions with Ethan Hawkes's character. The stuff with the sister is underdeveloped and the stuff with the random guy trying to solve the case, while it is there for a reason, it is also distracting and poorly integrated into the plot. Overall it is a disjointed, but very atmospheric and creepy supernatural horror movie.

I use halves, because I break each number down to a 10 point system. I could use .2 .3 .4 etc. as well, but that is being really tedious imo.

Not every movie I rate 7/10 is of exactly equal quality and the .5 specifies the difference.

I'm conflicted about this one. It ends well, but really is all over the place.

I agree and that isn't my main issue with the movie. northern just ignores the other major issues I have with the movie, such as it just not being a very well told or well-made movie. I realize people disagree with me and that is fine.

The movie mostly just had me rolling my eyes. I was unable to take the movie seriously. I in no way said it was a terrible movie either, which is why I give it an average rating of 5.5/10. There are certainly some good things about the movie.

Of course I have bias as I am a strong atheist, but as I pointed out I am a big fan of many Christian movies. This movie however is amateur hour. My bias against religion is countered by my admiration for art, which is why I am able to love a movie like The Passion of the Christ, The Ten Commandments, Hacksaw Ridge or The Song of Bernadet and all the other high quality Christian movies. Father Stu is not high quality, it is slightly above the quality of a TV movie of the week imo.

I didn't think the acting was anything special either, even Mel Gibson. He could have played the role in his sleep and I also didn't think he was given enough good material to work with. The best acting in the movie is by Wahlberg in the final 30 minutes of the movie, but otherwise I found his acting inconsistent. 

I am not sure why it matters that you are liberal. Most liberals are theists/Christians, considering the majority of the world are theists and the majority of theists are Christians.