Review of I Still Believe (2020) by Thequietgamer — 21 Mar 2020

I was surprised to find out that what Jeremy Camp went through wasn't the significant aspect of this movie. He did experience a tragedy that's impossible to not sympathise with, but he still ended up with a one in a million music career and later remarried to start a beautiful family. Yeah, I bet he does still believe. The fact of the matter is that things aren't likely to turn out that nicely for you after hardship so what the heck are we supposed to take away from that?

No, the real story here is Melissa Camp's. The one everything didn't work out for. Her faith and ability to find meaning during her time of pain and struggle is powerful. It has the ability to give people at least some modicum of hope that their suffering serves a greater purpose.

As far as the actual movie itself goes, it's one of the more competent works of Christian filmmaking. Yet, it plays out in a very cliché, predictable manner that ensures there are never any surprises. Which is probably why it feels so much longer than it actually is. I Still Believe drags its feet, taking forever to get to the point. It also has a weird issue with dictating the passage of time. Common sense tells me the whole thing played about over a period of years, but the film oddly enough makes it feel like only a few days.

The target audience will still eat this up though. The unconverted will obviously struggle to find the same value in it due to all the references to God and Jesus, but even they might enjoy the meet-cute romance and tear-jerking moments in spite of that. Plus, while I may not have enjoyed the movie overall, as a believer who faces no small challenge when coming to terms with with the fact that supposedly everything no matter how awful is a part of the Lord's will, I was definitely given a lot to think about.