2022’s Mindreader start out telling the story of the Great Dexter (Hamish Briggs).

In 1974, Dexter amazed audiences with his mid-reading tricks.  He also amazed his fellow magicians, none of whom could figure out how Dexter performed his tricks.  Dexter insisted that they only needed to consider his catch phrase — “I don’t really do magic, I just read minds,” — to understand how he was able to know what people were thinking.  Dexter said that his fellow magicians just needed to have faith that he could do what he could do.

But the other magicians, because they were so used to the idea of tricking their audiences, would not accept what Dexter said.  They launched an investigation into how Dexter was able to read minds.  A particularly jealous magician tried to fool Dexter by lying about what he was thinking.  Dexter, of course, saw right through him and humiliated the magician in front of his peers.  Those who worked at the same theater as Dexter were offered money to spy on and betray Dexter.  Dexter’s story eventually ended with tragedy.

Years later, Dexter is a revered figure.  The same organization of magicians that persecuted him now wants to honor him.  They interview those who knew Dexter.  They hear about Dexter’s powers.  They hear about how Dexter’s ability to read minds helped countless people.  And they still demand to know how Dexter could have read minds.  Dexter’s now aged assistant tells them that they can either believe it was a trick or they can accept that Dexter could do what he said he could.

Now, it’s pretty obvious what this film is getting at.  Dexter is obviously meant to be a Christ figure and his persecution is meant to parallel the betrayal and crucifixion of Jesus.  It’s not at all subtle but it’s still fairly well-done.  For a Rich Christiano film, the first hour of Mindreader is well-directed, well-acted, and nicely paced.

However, the film takes an abrupt turn when the end credits suddenly roll at the 60 minute mark and a whole new film begin.  Suddenly, the viewer finds themselves watching as a bunch of college students as they stand up and leave a movie theater.  They agree the movie was interesting but they don’t say much else about it.  The student who invited them to the movie goes to his dorm room and feels like a failure for not talking to them about the film’s message.  But, the next day, he discovers that at least one of them is interesting in what the film was really about and they proceed to discuss it.

Two things about this ending:

Number one, it feels more than a little self-congratulatory.  One gets the feeling that this ending was Christiano’s way of clapping back at every critic (like me!) who has ever suggested that a lot of faith-based films don’t really do much to reach people who don’t already agree with their point of view.

Number two, as the magicians in this film could have told you, you should never reveal how it’s done.  There’s a difference between getting people to think about something and telling people to think about it.  After an effective hour, Mindreader gets too heavy-handed for its own good.

Sometimes, you have to have faith in your audience.