Come What May (2009)

A couple of people in Virginia came up with an idea of training Christian home-schoolers in the ways of film making in order to take back the entertainment industry for Jesus. They formed a company called the Advent Film Group and put together their first project, a pro-life film called Come What May.

The behind-the-scenes story is very inspirational. Feeling the push of divine influence, they approached a small Christian college called Patrick Henry College and proposed using their moot court setting (where students debate issues in a court setting with retired judges) in preparation for debating moral issues in the real world and suggested writing a story about two college students assigned to argue to overthrow Roe v. Wade.

They formulated a budget and were astounded that the financial needs of the film were funded within a few weeks. Not one investor that they approached said No. Not one! That's an amazing thing!

The film itself follows a young man named Caleb who joins the college and is assigned to work with the beautiful and chaste Rachel. They are tasked with coming up with arguments to overturn the legal event in the Supreme Court which allowed abortion to become legal in this country. A nearly impossible argument to win now-a-days.

Caleb's home life is struggling as his parents are on opposite ends of the abortion debate. The father is about to publish a book on the science behind the pro-life movement and the mother is a lawyer defending a Supreme Court case that hopes to continue to allow children to obtain abortions without parental consent.

Over the course of their studies, Caleb and Rachel draw closer to each other, but her high standards of relationships and her own self-respect cause Caleb to reconsider his own approach to intimacy.

The film's success is hit and miss. It suffers from the consequence of low-budget scars. Acting his inconsistent. Lighting and audio vary in quality. And the story, for the most part, is very good. Out of the 90 or so minutes of the film, there is an excellent 60 minutes worth of material in there. The other 30 minutes are not bad, but not nearly as strong and concise as the rest of the story.

The lead actors (Austin Kearney as Caleb and Victoria Emmons as Rachel) are very good for the most part. There are a few times where they dip below the believability scale... in the smaller moments, in the throw away lines, that take you out of the film for a moment, but they have screen presence and a certain charm.

Come What May is enjoyable to see a film with strong pro-life standards, with college relationships based on faith and chastity and with real questions being asked about such a sensitive subject which are handled with respect and include numerous opportunities to discuss both sides of the issue. In many ways, it's as fair and balanced as a pro-life movie can get.

Finally, Come What May was extremely fortunate to have garnered massive amount of support from pro-life and pro-family organizations. Not since Sherwood Pictures (Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Fireproof) have a I seen such an strong grassroots effort to get a film seen. I think if the acting would have been better and the production value higher, this film would have been as big as any of the Sherwood Pictures flicks.

I think this is a film people see because they believe in the message and want to support the filmmakers for exploring it, but I think the film could have been much, much more financially successful.

I applaud Advent Film Group for the intent and dedication to training the next generation of filmmakers that will be steeped in Christian values and traditions. I can't wait to see their next film.