Jason Frederick – Through the Shattered Lens

When Hope Howard (Layla Cushman) discovers that her boss at a medical research company has been overcharging the company for medical supplies, she is promptly fired by Dr. David Jakes (Eric Hanson). Angered over the way she’s been treated and still convinced she can prove that Dr. Jakes was up to something shady, Hope hits the road. She returns to her former hometown and drops in on her way-too-quirky best friend, Stephanie (Allison Grischow). She visits her mother’s grave and then has an awkward encounter with her father (Philip Schaefer), from whom she was once estranged but who is now making an effort to be a better person. She also meets a cute guy (Jason Frederick), and they end up with a sort of Hallmark-like romance going.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jakes is dying. He has a rare form of blood cancer, one that is survivable when you’re young but aggressive when you’re older. He realizes that his only hope is to find someone who survived the cancer as a child and get a blood transfusion from them. With the help of a nerdy but greedy hacker named Dylan (Michael Alan Herman), he tracks down the only possible donor and—OH NO!—it’s Hope!

Now, this might sound like the setup for a really zany Hallmark film, but unfortunately, in 2023’s Chasing Hope, Dr. Jakes is not that nice and Hope is not that forgiving. Dr. Jakes tries to call Hope several times, and she eventually reacts by tossing her phone in a dumpster and then trying to find proof that he’s been stealing money from the company. Eventually, Dr. Jakes resorts to trying to kidnap Hope. If nothing else, this film is a lesson in being polite to people. Seriously, you never know when you might need their blood. If Dr. Jakes had been a little bit nicer when firing Hope or had offered her a better severance package, maybe she would be more willing to give him her blood. It’s hard for me to say because I’ve never actually been fired. When I graduated college, I was hired to be an office administrator by a friend of my mom’s, and I did that until he retired, and there was always kind of an understanding that all I really had to do was show up and stay out of trouble. I think that if I ever had been fired from an actual job, I would be pretty angry. Would I still let the person who fired me die of a rare disease? I’d like to think that I wouldn’t.

This is a faith-based film, though it doesn’t really become obvious how until the final minutes. It feels more like a Lifetime film from the late aughts. It has a strong woman trying to bring down an ungrateful man, a quirky best friend, and a potential romance with a somewhat boring man. Unfortunately, the film itself is not as much fun as the typical Lifetime film. For instance, the quirky friend is actually a bit too quirky, and by the third time she’s said something inappropriate, you’re kind of over her. Hope herself isn’t always that sympathetic, if only because she keeps dragging everyone else into her personal drama. Like, seriously, Hope, not everyone wants to risk dying just because you’re unemployed.

Oh, this movie made me happy that I’ve never had a real job.

Originally released in 2016, this low-budget political/religious thriller opens with a rather unsettling scene. An obviously disturbed woman wanders down a suburban street, loudly singing This Little Light of Mine. She stops in front of one house and starts to screech the lyrics, like a banshee predicting future doom.

The house is the home of Congressman Neil Barlow (Don Brooks) and both he and his wife Catherine (Kera O’Bryan) are about to discover that their teenage daughter has been taken away. She has left home and she is now living with a religious communal cult. When the FBI approaches the cult’s headquarters, all of the members drink poison in a mass suicide. Neil Barlow becomes determined to one day become President so that he can stamp out the scourge of religious extremism.

18 years later, Neil Barlow is president and he’s just announced the creation of the Department of Religious Freedom. Televangelist Randy Mason (Tim Ross) is put in charge of the Department but it turns out that this is just the beginning of Barlow’s plan to change America. Barlow soon announces that all religions are going to come together under the umbrella of one state-run church. Across America, people watch the press conference and say things like, “This will cut down on division,” and “We all believe the same thing anyways.” The Department of Religious Freedom proceeds to outlaw all of the old religious texts and requires that all religious leaders preach the same pre-approved sermon. Failure to do so can lead to being sent to a reeducation camp.

Randy’s brother, Jake Mason (Jason Frederick), knows a little about what has happened but not everything. He’s been down in Mexico, ministering to a small village. When Jake returns to America, he discovers that it’s no longer the country that he once thought it was. Along with his girlfriend, Beth Barlow (Jessica Lynch), Jake tries to stand up against the One Church. Beth also happens to be the President’s daughter and she, more than anyone, understands the anger that is fueling Neil Barlow’s actions.

I have an admitted weakness for low-budget, conspiracy-themed movies and One Church is definitely qualifies. Say what you will about the film’s plot and themes, it’s hard not to appreciate a film in which the President gives a major, history-changing press conference in what appears to be a high school auditorium. The offices of a major news network are represented by a small room that has several televisions propped up against the wall. The White House dining room is about the same size as my dining room. The future president of the United States lives in a house that’s about the size of the house where I live. Suddenly, I’m feeling very important!

As for the film itself, it actually makes the perfect case for maintaining the separation of Church and State. As soon as the State gets involved in religion, it starts using the Church as a way to control the citizens and to make itself more powerful. Preachers like Randy Mason are easily corrupted once they’re in partnership with the government. As for the citizens, they’re portrayed as being eager to be ordered about, which is perhaps the most realistic thing about One Church. Beth is played by the same Jessica Lynch who was, in 2003, captured by and subsequently rescued from the Taliban. She has appeared in a few films over the past few years, usually in small roles. She’s actually a surprisingly good actress and she certainly gives the best performance in One Church.