A film about sexual abuse of kidnapped children does not even match the image of the family-friendly Mickey Mouse Group. That is why the drama “Sound of Freedom”, which had already been turned off in 2018, for which 20th Century Fox had acquired the sales rights before the takeover by Disney, was first in the poison cabinet. It was not until five years later that the film, which was prominently occupied with Jim Caviezel and Oscar winner Mira Sorvino, finally started in cinemas-and recorded an incredible $ 184 million in the United States alone.
The independent Angel Studios, who had secured the rights to the film with the help of a crowdfunding campaign, which had been promoted primarily in Christian communities, had succeeded in a real coup. In any case, the US media company from the Mormons state of Utah successfully relies on Christian content and a soluent faithful community: a whopping eleven million dollars were collected solely for the production of the first season of “The Chosen” about the life and work of Jesus on fan funds. The series now comprises four seasons and has been streamed over more than 400 million times worldwide.
A movie as an advertisement for a streaming series
With “Homestead“In December 2024, director Ben Smallbone (“ priceless ”) was launched in the USA another ambitious Angel Studios project, which shows what role Christian values such as charity and sense of community in the United States could take after a-especially expected in the near future-apocalypse.
In parallel to the film's cinema release, the first two episodes of a spin-off series of the same name appeared at the in-house, worldwide-available streaming service Angel Studios. The audience does not expect a violent actionist, such as the misleading posters suggest, but rather realistic end-time drama, but it is annoying, especially towards the end, with how it tries to interfere with streaming subscription.
Ian Ross (Neal McDonough) has taken care of an apocalyptic catastrophe – only against the resulting moral dilemma can not be planned.
Two terrorists ignite an atomic bomb off the coast of California. As a result, the infrastructure and the supply of supermarkets collapse in the entire USA. However, the wealthy Ian Ross (Neal McDonough) made such a catastrophe: its huge property is largely self-sufficient due to the production of solar energy, a supply of grain, vegetable greenhouses and even its own vineyard. Of course, begging people from the surrounding communities can be expected-but the ex-military Jeff Eriksson (Bailey Chase) is there as a security chief.
In addition to Jeff's family, Ian's relatives around his sister Evie (Susan Misner) are willingly accepted, while Ian's old buddy Rick (Jarret Lemaster) is rejected with hungry family. The tense location continues to come up until the government official Blake Masterson (Currie Graham) comes with a Swat team to storm the property …
Too many characters for 112 minutes
“HomeSead” is based on the first book of the novel series “Black Autumn” by the war veteran Jeff Kirkham and Jason Ross, who in a total of ten volumes reveal more and more backgrounds to the nuclear attack. In the books, a more complex narrative is possible than in the pilot film, which in the first third is working on the introduction of its numerous characters, most of which still receive little profile. For example, Evie and her family remain interchangeable: For you and your escape in the Tesla – for whom you have to steal a burner from a looter on the go – there is little screen time. A teenager romance in the greenhouse meanwhile gets stuck in tentative and youth-free hints-and then no longer plays a role (at least in the film).
Neal McDonough (“Tulsa King”) and Dawn Olivieri (“Yellowstone”) As a spouses, most acting accents: Between the tough calculation of the noticeable food reserves and a (moral) duty to help the help of needy. In fact, “homestead” receives a pleasant realistic coat of arms, precisely through the conflict of this conflict, despite some noticeable lengths. So it seems quite coherent that a (possible) effect brimborium has deliberately dispensed with the devastation of the explosion. On the other hand, it is less credible that inedible flowers are planted in the greenhouse and – garnished with some pretty landscape shots – a lot of talk and tacted in somewhat sparkling interiors.
The ex-military Jeff Eriksson (Bailey Chase) is responsible for keeping the begging masses away from the property.
For the lengths of his film, director Ben Smallbone himself also knew, who then staged the few action scenes in an exciting way – for example, when two newcomers can be found in the security force trained by Jeff in the crosshairs of intruders. The Voice Over, overloaded with sultry Christian pictures, and the story threads that are increasingly rushing with increasing term are a bit annoying, which is clear that they act primarily as a clumsy teaser for the planned series.
In addition to the two existing consequences, the production of further episodes and a second season was only decided in mid -May 2025. It is only in those that (probably) resolved what exactly causes the blackout and what the mysterious visions of one of the characters are all about. In the current form, a cinema visit from “Homestead” leaves you frustrated frustrated.
Conclusion: The Christian end-time drama “HomeSead” goes through a refreshingly different, emphasized realistic path (despite certain soap vibes when talking in front of too high-gloss interior). So far, however, the large number of characters introduced remains profile, which has to do with the fact that the movie should only start the start of a streaming series.