Review of Children of God (2009) by Pedro C — 04 Jul 2011

A movie set in beautiful Bahamas which depicts rampant homophobia, the religious bigots' efforts to persuade the government to deny gay rights, closted reverends, hypocrisy, and a young artist unsure of himself. The religious aspects lead to the title "Children Of God" but I was more interested in the romance between Johnny and Romeo. Johnny Ferro underplays the character and the actor is not mesmerizing enough to make us care. Stephen Williams is much more dynamic as the duplicitious Romeo. Margaret Laurena Kemp plays the bigoted Lena and I found her character to be truly scary because homophobia is based on ignorance. Another frightening character is her husband, the closeted reverend well played by Mark Richard Ford. Van Brown is the understanding Rev. Ritchie and I wish the movie had given him more time with his preaching of compassion. Couldn't this charming actor have persuaded the ambiguous church members?

I listened to writer and director Kareem Mortimer state how he was depicting homophobia in the Bahamas but I think he should have focused more on the characters than trying to make a message movie. Honestly, the two elements don't really jell. A well-told story with interesting characters is the best way to get your message across. We all know that religion is the last resort for homophobia which is well documented in the news, we are more interested in the lives of these characters. The ending is too downbeat and I would have preferred that Johnny defends himself than resort to an afterlife to fulfill his dreams.