War Room

A Christian drama made by the Kendrick brothers. From outside, Elizabeth and Tony look fine: a house, jobs, a child. Inside, the marriage is nearly over. Working as an estate agent, Elizabeth meets an older woman named Clara. Clara shows her a closet in her house, its walls covered in written prayers, which she calls her war room. That is the whole of the film's proposal: pray rather than argue. The narrative offers it not as metaphor but directly as method. It is openly a film of faith and does not disguise its audience. Its commercial outcome was surprising. Made for around three million dollars, it took over sixty-seven million in America and reached number one over the Labor Day weekend, ahead of far more widely distributed films. The closet idea passed to the audience; there were reports of homes having closets converted for prayer. Exactly on target for anyone looking for faith-based films and dramas that deliver a message directly. For a viewer outside that frame, the film leaves no room for argument; every problem has one solution and the solution is stated at the start.