Persecuted

PG-13

Released Jul 18, 2014

1 hr. 31 min.

Mystery & Thriller

Drama

List

0%

14 Reviews

Tomatometer

58%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

John Luther (James Remar) is one of the most famous and influential television evangelists in America; as such, his support is essential to Sen. Donald Harrison's (Bruce Davison) efforts to get his "Faith and Fairness Act" through Congress. When Luther refuses to support the bill, he finds himself framed for the murder of a teenage girl. Luther goes on the run and searches for evidence that will prove his innocence. Meanwhile, Luther's lieutenant makes a bid to take over the ministry.

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Audience Member

Murder drama with a weak plot -- (Spoiler alert) Televangelist -- I mean religious broadcaster -- John Luther opposes legislation called the "Faith and Fairness Act". Because of this, he's drugged, videotaped in bed with a woman, and framed for her murder. A U.S. Senator, members of his ministry's board, and even the Secret Service -- and possibly the President -- are behind this frame-up. Eventually, Luther is cleared because some witnesses videotaped the murder on a smartphone. The problem with the movie is that the details of the "Faith and Fairness Act" are barely revealed. Bits and pieces of the movie suggest that it's enactment would mean big wealth and power for Luther's ministry and maybe the government, but they're very vague. More details on the Act would have provided a much better understanding of the reason for Luther's frame-up and the plotters' drive to get rid of him. The description of the movie reads: "Persecuted depicts evangelist John Luther as the last obstacle in the way of sweeping religious reform. When a Senator frames Luther for the murder of an innocent teenage girl, an unprecedented era of persecution is unleashed. An evangelist turned fugitive, Luther's mission brings him face-to-face with the coming storm of persecution that will threaten the entire Christian community in America." The description is misleading. Without more details on the "sweeping religious reform" that would come about from enactment of the "Faith and Fairness Act", this movie is only a murder drama. No "era" or "storm" of persecution is revealed in the movie.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

One of the best movies of this genre.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

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Audience Member

Bad propaganda, Jesus is embarrassed of this

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

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Audience Member

As far as Christian movies go, this one is kind of an odd ball. I do like that it tries something different and it has a good cast but the movie is all over the place and it's pacing. The movie also isn't shot very well and some odd placements of the camera. The story is full of potholes too and in the end the movie becomes too preachy.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Audience Member

The persecution has already come to America - Christianity is the only religion you can bad-mouth here. All other religions are "protected" by political correctness umbrella.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I heard about this movie from my brother who watched a review for it from The Bible Reloaded YouTube series. We watched it yesterday to laugh at it because the reviewers made it sound hilariously bad. That's what I got for the first half. But once the second half was done, I realized something. I freaking hated this movie. It's just so boring and pretentious and obviously has no idea what it's talking about. And it's so hard to follow because it explains nothing. Usually movies like this spell everything out for the audience but this one just assumes that the message is so obvious that everyone can get it upon the first viewing. Bottom Line: This movie is crap. I don't recommend it to anyone.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

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Daniel Lusko

Director

James Remar

John Luther

Raoul Max Trujillo

Mr. Gray

Dean Stockwell

Dave Wilson

Bruce Davison

Senator Donald Harrison

Fred Dalton Thompson

Dr. Charles Luther

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Louis Black

Austin Chronicle

Persecuted matches its conservative beliefs to an anachronistic narrative structure and dated cinematic execution.

Rated: 2.5/5

Jul 24, 2014

Full Review

Frank Scheck

Hollywood Reporter

Persecuted squanders the talents of its impressive cast -- including James Remar, Bruce Davison, Fred Dalton Thompson and Dean Stockwell -- with its bizarre premise and inept execution.

Jul 18, 2014

Full Review

Christy Lemire

RogerEbert.com

A heavy-handed and didactic drama which also manages to be totally mushy in terms of the message it's trying to convey.

Rated: 1/4

Jul 18, 2014

Full Review

Mark Jackson

Epoch Times

Shouldn't a film about religious tolerance be showing us a man living by example? Instead, we get an image of a bloody, gun-holding hand wrapped in rosary beads. Nice!

Rated: 1.5/5

Jun 14, 2016

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Linda Cook

Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

Woe to the filmmakers of 'Persecuted.'

Rated: .5/4

Jul 22, 2014

Full Review

Sean P. Means

Salt Lake Tribune

Lusko's leaden dialogue and heavy-handed symbolism is as unintentionally comical as the miscasting of Fox News host Gretchen Carlson as a journalist.

Rated: 1/4

Jul 21, 2014

Full Review

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Synopsis

John Luther (James Remar) is one of the most famous and influential television evangelists in America; as such, his support is essential to Sen. Donald Harrison's (Bruce Davison) efforts to get his "Faith and Fairness Act" through Congress. When Luther refuses to support the bill, he finds himself framed for the murder of a teenage girl. Luther goes on the run and searches for evidence that will prove his innocence. Meanwhile, Luther's lieutenant makes a bid to take over the ministry.

Director: Daniel Lusko
Executive Producer: Gray Frederickson, Jerry D. Simmons
Screenwriter: Daniel Lusko
Distributor: Millennium Entertainment
Production Co: One Media
Rating: PG-13 (Violence|Thematic Elements)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 18, 2014, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 23, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.6M

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