Tag Archives: SteveDeace

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Daily Broadside | The Movie “Nefarious” Lives Up To Its Billing

Almost two weeks ago I recommended a movie I hadn’t seen yet based on the recommendations of two men whose opinions I respect — John Zmirak and Eric Metaxas. The movie was Nefarious, and I saw it in the theater last night with my daughter.

Going into it my expectations were set by Zmirak’s review, which praised the “powerful performances, skillful camera work, intuitive direction … and a script that’s simply brilliant.” Except for one or two moments during the film, that description was accurate.

The setting — a maximum security prison — is spare, but it works because this isn’t an action movie. The film is driven completely by dialogue that is at once believable and tautly delivered. The story relies on the verbal dueling between the main characters rather than car chases, over-the-top jump scares or gory violence to keep you riveted to the screen. (There are a couple of disturbing scenes, but don’t let the “R” rating dissuade you from seeing it; I think that rating was a political decision, because I’ve seen worse in PG-13 movies.)

Sean Patrick Flanery delivers a powerful performance as Edward, the prison inmate scheduled to be executed at 11:00 PM that evening. His character has to transition between the man himself and the entity that now “owns” him, which Flanery does with subtle — and sometimes chilling — effect.

Jordan Belfi plays Dr. James Martin, a court-ordered psychiatrist called to evaluate whether Edward is mentally fit to be executed. He’s a smart, worldly, mid-thirties atheist who is confident in his ability to see through whatever mind games Edward is playing, but whose self-confidence slowly evaporates over the course of the film.

The story confronts the viewer with a question: are demons behind the destruction that we see in the world, or is it all simply a natural order operating without any unseen interference? The film, of course, implies that there is evil at work in our world — and not just “evil,” but a personal evil. It also suggests that cultural or political issues we face in our society — like abortion or mass murders — are driven by evil spiritual forces.

Christians will agree theologically with the movie’s premise, based on the biblical declaration that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). They may, however, wonder if the depiction of a demonic presence as expressed through Edward is something that comports with reality. I’ve never encountered anything quite like it, but I’m not willing to say it doesn’t happen. On the other hand, atheists and agnostics may not be convinced by the portrayal of evil in the film, but it may give them pause to reconsider.

The only real complaint I have (besides the dialogue briefly getting preachy at a couple of points), is what amounts to an unnecessary epilogue. “One year later,” we’re told, Dr. James Martin appears on conservative Glenn Beck’s Blaze TV show to promote his new book (the real life book A Nefarious Plot by New York Times bestselling author Steve Deace, also a host on Blaze TV). Beck’s cameo is the only moment that felt disjointed in the movie, although the fake book promotion does flow from the story’s narrative arc.

Beck is a controversial and polarizing figure, even among conservatives. Did the directors think he appeals to Christians in particular? What about non-believers who watch the movie — would Beck’s appearance ruin the movie for them? It actually disrupted the movie for me because the story did what good stories do: draw you in while suspending your disbelief. The appearance of Beck broke that suspension because I was suddenly thrust back into “reality.”

Apart from that moment, I would encourage you to go see it if you haven’t. It’s a well done psychological thriller with a mature take on spiritual warfare. It will challenge your understanding of spiritual influence and, if you let it, be a great conversation starter among your believing or undecided friends.

You can go here to find times and locations where it’s still showing.

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Daily Broadside | You Should Probably See A Movie Before You Recommend It, But …

Short post today to recommend a film that I’ve not seen but at least two writers I respect have — and both enthusiastically recommend it. It’s made for Christian audiences, but avoids the pitfalls that most movies aimed at that audience stumble into: low production value, terribly moralistic and sappy messaging, idealized relationships, and avoiding the depiction of realistic evil.

I’m gobsmacked and thrilled to report that a movie of this quality is opening this weekend, Nefarious, based on the novel by conservative TV commentator and author Steve Deace of The Blaze. I heard about it from Eric Metaxas, who’d seen the preview screener and highly recommended it. I sat with a friend to watch it, and we were riveted. Imagine the insights of The Screwtape Letters conveyed with all the intensity of top-notch courtroom drama like To Kill a Mockingbird. Or the “Grand Inquisitor” scene from Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, set on death row in a U.S. “red state.”

I don’t want to give away too much, and drain the film of its power to surprise, unsettle, and challenge. Suffice it to say that it’s an, intense, occasionally violent psychological thriller of a similar genre to The Exorcism of Emily Rose. The story is simple: a smug secular psychologist goes to evaluate a serial killer on the verge of execution … to see if he’s lucid enough to undergo capital punishment (as our law requires). But the killer insists he’s possessed by a demon. Is that proof he’s really insane?

The film confronts genuine evil — not confusion, bad ideas, mere human weakness, or even the sordid fact of Original Sin.

No, Nefarious brings us face to face with principalities and powers, the bloodless calculating entities who cast their shadows today in the abortion industry, the transgender movement, and the intolerant new gospel of the Antichrist we refer to as the Woke cult. We hear the subarctic voice of deathless spirits who whisper in our ears, who teach us to love the sin but hate the sinner, who manage our culture and politics and arrange for the State to groom our children.

I will make the disclaimer that John Zmirak makes: not every Christian will be comfortable seeing this movie. If you’re easily disturbed by intense situations and the portrayal of stone-cold evil, this may not be the film for you. As I said, I’m recommending it based the strong recommendation of Zmirak and Eric Metaxas, not on having seen it myself (yet).

The reason I bring it to your attention is that it opens in theaters today and a movie’s staying power is often determined by how well it performs at the box office. As this is its opening weekend, I’m encouraging you to help make it a strong one.

Whatever you choose to do, have a good weekend. I’ll be back Monday.

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Daily Broadside | You Can’t Handle the Truth! Or Can You?

When I was in junior high I was friends with Scott,* one of the school’s popular kids who was an all-around athlete and a funny guy who others naturally gravitated towards. He was also somewhat of an arrogant prig because he was popular and tough, no one really challenged his place in the social pecking order, and he got a lot of laughs as a practical joker.

One year Scott took to tormenting another kid named Jim Bursh. Jim was a foot taller than my friend but seemed rather slow and socially awkward. Scott would follow Jim down the hall and loudly say his name, but drag it out as “Jim Burrrrsh,” as though he was a mentally-challenged 14-year-old. All of Scott’s groupies — including me — would get a laugh at Jim’s expense.

This went on for some time until one day, Scott was following Jim up the stairs from the lunch room. We were all tagging along and he started in again on him. “Jim Burrrshh … Jim Burrrrsh! … Jim BURRRRSH.”

As we got to the landing at the top of the stairs, with Scott still haranguing him, Jim suddenly, and with surprising speed, spun around and grabbed Scott by the back of the neck and bent him over the rail that kept us from falling into the stairwell. It was an act of raw power that stunned us all by how quickly and decisively he dominated Scott.

Jim then bellowed, “Don’t do that any more! Got it?” It would’ve been nothing for him to toss Scott over the railing onto the stairs below. Meekly, Scott said, “Yeah, got it.” Jim let go and walked away.

Thoroughly chastened and red-faced, Scott followed at a distance, surrounded by his awestruck and now silent posse. Needless to say, he left Jim alone from then on. The bully had run into someone who had decided enough was enough.

I see something like that story developing in our society. Over the last week I’ve come across three posts where the authors have declared that enough is enough.

Enough of what?

Enough of the Left and its irrational and destructive nonsense. Enough of insisting that men can be women. Enough of rewriting America’s history. Enough of the lies from our political leaders. Enough of grooming our children. Enough of demonizing whites as racist. Enough of wrecking our unique culture through open borders. Enough of the cultural Marxism. Enough of being silent in the hopes that we might not offend our opponents in the culture wars.

Steve Deace, an evangelical Christian and conservative activist, hosts an eponymous show on Blaze Media. On Monday last week he appeared on Tim Pool’s show Timcast IRL, where the topic turned to the war in Ukraine. Deace delivered an epic rant against the idea of the U.S. putting boots on the ground in that war zone.

This issue with Ukraine is my last nerve. And this is hard for me to say, as a kid who’s a child of the ’80s, who grew up in the “We’re America, bitch” ’80s, who wore Alex P. Keaton monogrammed sweater vests, okay? And, and got up in the middle of the night to cheer Reagan bombing Qaddafi back to the Neolithic period. This is hard for me to say, okay?

You’re taking my high school-age son to fight and die in Ukraine? Literally over my dead body. I’m never allowing that. I’m never letting you take him to die for your Habsburg Dynasty, World War I, needless 20-million pile-of-deaths replay over your elites’ pissing contest. Not happening. I don’t care what the threat is. I don’t care what the penalty is.

And if you think you’re drafting my daughters, get the camps ready, because you’re gonna need them. Never happening.

Enough is enough.

Matt Walsh posted a video on Valentine’s Day in which he spoke the unvarnished truth about Dylan Mulvaney, a man who dresses and “presents” as a woman (or “a girl” as Mulvaney says). The video got a lot of backlash from the usual suspects, but also a lot of “friendly fire” from those who identify as right-of-center.

It’s the follow up video, posted on Wednesday last week, in which Matt addresses his critics from the right with a doubling down.

Listen to the whole thing but here’s a brief transcript of his core argument.

In the culture war, I don’t think it’s possible to ‘go too far’ by speaking truth. The truth is the truth. It is what it is. It’s the reality. Are we going to defend it or are we going to conceal it? Are we going to embrace it or are we going to hide from it? You can’t have it both ways. . . .

And make no mistake, Dylan Mulvaney is our enemy. He is an open, visible, active and passionate advocate for the abuse of children, the war on fundamental truth, and the destruction of human society as we know it.

I’m not looking to reach an understanding with these people. I’m not interested in compromise and dialogue. For those who castrate children and attack the very concept of truth and erode the very foundations of human civilization, my goal is to defeat and humiliate and demoralize them. OK, I want to destroy everything they stand for.

Enough is enough.

Finally, here’s Lincoln Brown, a columnist for PJ Media and The Hill who on Thursday also declared enough is enough when it comes to the Left.

Having been raised a liberal who became a conservative, I have long been an advocate of dialogue. Of finding the middle way. Of reaching a consensus. Knowing both sides of the aisle as I do, I had thought that there might be some point at which our two sides might find common ground or a way of living with one another.

I will now finally admit that is simply not a possibility. I take no joy in that, but there comes a time when one must admit that compromise is impossible, and that to search for it involves capitulation with alleged human beings who have blinded themselves to all but the basest of pursuits and desires. There comes a time at which hope ends, and one realizes that we can no longer live with one another. It is a sad realization, but one that is based on a harsh, unforgiving reality. Long had I hoped that cooler heads might prevail, that we could see eye to eye on something. But whether it is because of the internet, our feckless leaders, or the inherent sinfulness of mankind, we must admit that the breach between the insanity of the Left and the rest of the world is simply too large and wide to bridge. It would take an act of God to bring about reconciliation. And for better or worse, He has chosen to leave us to our own devices. The Old Testament prophets warned that those who sought their will above all else would reap the whirlwind. And the people in power have done just that. How long they evade the chaos that they have seeded will be up to the Almighty. . . .

Changing focus for a moment, I really did want to find common ground with you people on the Left. I agree with you on the need to solve poverty, and on many points about the environment. I agree with you about Big Pharma and insurance issues. There were so many places we could have worked together. But sadly, even that part of me that was raised a Democrat has come to realize that you care nothing for anyone but yourselves. You traffic in bodies. You traffic in lives. You traffic in souls. To my sorrow, there can be no common ground.

Enough. is. enough.

These three men are demonstrating what used to be common among Americans — a backbone and a commitment to the truth. They have convictions they aren’t willing to compromise. They’ve found a hill they’re willing to die on. They’ve reached the point where they have to say, “That’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!”

All of us will sooner or later be forced to make a similar decision. Christians, especially, will eventually have to declare their allegiance to one side or the other. It may be safe to stay silent and out of the battle, ignoring the walls closing in the hopes it will all just blow over and we can go back to our comfortable lives in which we go along to get along, but that’s not going to happen.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:6)

You will have to decide. Will you compromise your convictions or will you gather your courage and determine to give no quarter? How much “Jim BURRRRSH” will you take before you decide that enough is enough, you stiffen your spine, and you proactively stand for the truth against the lies of this age?

*Names changed to protect the unsuspecting.