Audience Member
Quite creepy. Just sad the ending wasn't a good ending. Realistically, what happened in this story doesn't happen. No random stranger would come to her and say that. Who says that the man could be a psycho who planned to get her all worked up to die at that moment? I guess it could be an angel too (since the whole 'angels come to earth as people' thing features quite commonly and I don't buy it). NO ANGEL would tell you when you would die.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/31/23
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Audience Member
<i>I'm just going to say up-front that it will be difficult to write this review without <b>spoiling</b> the ending...</i>
Liz is a newspaper columnist, although she only writes opinion columns about the fact that God does not exist and belief in such a creature is ridiculous. Her co-workers are all pretty much on the same page (pun, sadly, unintended) that she is -- which is to say, they are all so out of touch with the church that multiple people, when told that they have received a message from the Lord, will answer, "The Lord who?"
Welcome to the world of Rich Christiano, folks. Step right up and be amazed at the man's unending ignorance! After writing so many scathing editorials about God's non-existence, Liz gets a visit from a mysterious person whose appearances are always marked with ominous music. On September 11 (eerie!!!), this person approaches Liz and tells her that she will die on September 19 at 6:05 p.m., so she'd better get right with Jesus the Christ.
Liz rightly ignores this madman's ravings, but unfortunately neglects to call the police with regards to the death threat. Instead, she decides that it would be more appropriate to wait and see what will happen, growing more fearful -- and therefore more inclined to believe in the Christian God -- as the date and time of her death grow closer.
Before watching <i>The Appointment</i> with my wife, I mentioned to her that the Christiano brothers' films are often much more heinous than those of the more popular Kendrick brothers. The Kendricks' films show a special sort of naivete in the way that God always seems to magically fix the main characters' problems. Christiano films are never this innocent. Their subject matter is almost always Christians vs. agnostics, and persecution by secular society. Their message is nearly always one of fearing the eternal torture that their loving God will cast onto those who don't blindly follow him, er, I mean... those who don't blindly follow what his "followers" say is true. The Christianos will get their viewers to believe in Christ, no matter how much trauma they have to inflict on the way to that destination.
And so it is with <i>The Appointment</i>: just as ludicrous, just as poorly acted and written a movie as any in the Christiano ouevre. But unlike many of their other films, this one doesn't stop short with regards to the terror that will befall those who don't believe. I was anticipating some sort of cop-out, some sort of, "Well, okay, you're not going to die after all. But maybe you should believe in God because you might have!" How could I be so dense? No, there's no cute and simple moral to this story about having more faith. No, Liz dies at the end. Oh yes, how Liz does die at the end. And then chilling red letters appear on the screen asking the viewer to consider when their "appointment" has been made.
Are there people who really see this as a positive thing? It's hard to believe. It's hard to believe that there are those who will view <i>The Appointment</i> and think that it has a good message.
But those are exactly the people for whom this film was made. People who revel in the thought of those who do not share their unfounded beliefs being subjected to eternal, eternal, eternal torture in the fiery pits of Hell.
In short, some twisted folks.
<i>The Appointment</i> is twisted. It's exactly this sort of repulsive nonsense that I have come to expect and love from the Christiano brothers, and by that standard this is a masterpiece. It even manages to throw in some condemnation of people who perform good deeds. Ain't important!
It's so difficult not to scream when you realize that time, talent, and resources are actually being wasted on this kind of crap.
Well... time and resources, anyway.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
01/15/23
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