film review: Samson

Title: Samson
Release Date: 2018
Production: Pure Flix Productions, Boomtown films

I am hesitant about biblical movies. They are often low budget, telling big stories, which is not a good combination.

That said, Samson, is a good film. It's not a blockbuster. It doesn't show all the guts and gore (which seems to be all too common in films these days) nor does it emphasize the sexuality. Some will argue that it should have showed more violence or sex to be true to the biblical account. The Bible is filled with flawed individuals like Samson because that's the whole point of the story. It makes the redemption at the end strike a cord with the viewer. So yes, they watered down some aspects of the story to make it more family friendly. It doesn't include everything in the biblical account, but then it doesn't promise to do that. It tells the (modified) story in an entertaining way.

Some of the production values are a little weak:

• Some of the beards look like really cheesy beards that are looked glued on. 
• And the King of the Philistines wears a crown that looks like it was taken from a Three Wise Men Christmas pageant.

A couple of other weak points:

• They gave Samson a brother which doesn't make any sense. 
• The screenwriters were almost afraid to have Samson and Delilah spend more than ten minutes together at any given time for fear of things getting too "sexy". They could have found ways to develop a relationship on screen without jumping into sex. 
• Delilah feels more like pretty wallpaper than an actual character. She "loves" Samson, but we never get the why, because while she's always around she's never given anything especially interesting to do. 

While the film has some flaws, it's not a bad film. In fact, it definitely works if you want to start your kids off on a "Bible lite" movie that you won't need to cover their eyes to watch with. 

A free copy of this movie was provided by Resourcing Leaders