One of this year’s top-grossing faith-affirming films, “Jesus Revolution,” is available on Netflix in the United States, where a reported 75 million Americans are subscribers.
The film tells the story of the early 1970s evangelical Christian revival that swept the country and had thousands of young adults baptized into the faith. One of them was Greg Laurie, then a confused teen looking for answers in life. He is today pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, where his sermons are aired on radio and television.
In a telephone interview Thursday, Mr. Laurie said the film was “already trending” on Netflix, which he said was encouraging.
“At this moment in time, it’s number five of all Netflix movies,” he said. “That’s pretty significant.”
Unlike some other faith-based films, “Jesus Revolution” is as much a story as a testament. While several characters in the film share a gospel message — including middle-aged pastor Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer) and hippie street preacher Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie) — the film is told very much through the eyes of Mr. Laurie, whose home life was chaotic.
The result, he said, was a “multigenerational” film that “opens” viewers to the Christian message.
“People just want a good story,” Mr. Laurie said. “They want to be inspired. This film disarms people, because it is entertaining. It is funny. It’s dramatic.”
The film arrived earlier this year as a wave of Christian revival erupted across the country. A Feb. 8 prayer meeting at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, turned into two weeks of non-stop worship sessions, and similar events have been reported elsewhere in the U.S.
In July, Mr. Laurie and his Harvest Church associates held a mass baptism for some 4,500 people at the same Pirate’s Cove inlet in Newport Beach, California, where he was baptized decades earlier — an event portrayed in the movie.
Along with its debut on Netflix, “Jesus Revolution” is moving overseas. Mr. Laurie said. The film has opened in theaters in England, Scotland, New Zealand and Australia, and is also playing in Latin America.
He said India and Malaysia are next for overseas distribution.
“It’s made its way all around the world,” he said. “It’s really, really having a great appeal.”
He said there are discussions of an “episodic” series that would air on Netflix or another streaming service to continue the story.
While Mr. Laurie — in the movie and in real life — found salvation and happiness, the evangelist said the positive outcomes did not stop there. He said he was able to pray with both his mother and his estranged father as each received Jesus as savior, and that Jeanette Smith — whose character in the film had a crisis of faith — “loves” the movie and has “been walking with the Lord very closely for many years.”
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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