Religious films have become the new thing in Hollywood, contrary to what some Christian sites may say, because they bring in droves of audiences. There’s a demographic for the robot-superhero-CGI-infested blockbusters that break box office records, but it’s the faith-based films with low budgets that are also making a mighty profit – look at God’s Not Dead’s $2 million budget compared to its $64 million gross. 

Now, just like every other genre, these films set out to appeal to their specific target audience. As we see with the Christian genre, many are searching for content that uplifts their morals and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But remember, just because Twilight fans love Twilight, that doesn’t mean that it’s a good movie. 

Risen comes from director Kevin Reynolds who previously directed the Kevin Costner-led films Waterworld and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Here he unites with Sony’s Affirm Films (War Room, When The Game Stands Tall) to make a religious film from the point-of-view of a sceptic Roman soldier. 

Pitched as a “sequel” to the events of The Passion of the Christ, we follow the Roman tribune Clavius (Joseph Fiennes) who is put in charge of guarding Jesus’ tomb who, in this movie, is referred to by his Hebrew name Yeshua. Interestingly enough they even cast a middle eastern actor to play him, Cliff Curtis from AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead. The first half of the film then becomes "CSI: Jerusalem" as Clavius searches left and right for the missing body and interviews several key witnesses to the scene. 

It’s an interesting take on the story, albeit a fictional one regardless if you believe in the Bible or not. And while the first 40 minutes seem fresh, it quickly dives into your standard Sunday School story when the inevitable "encounter" happens. By that point, the nuance wears off and you start to notice that the film looks a lot like the fake sets within Hail, Caesar!’s parody film.  The threat of the Roman army is then tossed up in a foreshowed line by Pilate who claims, “What can come of them (Christians)? They’ll soon disappear.”

It’s an honest attempt at keeping the Biblical morals that Christian audiences want to see while striving to make an actual film. It may not always be tonally consistent, but its target audience will adore it. For me, by the end credits, I give it a solid RENT IT.