A Great Awakening: An Extraordinary Film

A Great Awakening: An Extraordinary Film

Last weekend, on the advice of a friend, Marty and I went to see the movie A Great Awakening. I was prepared for a good film with historical content, because that’s what my friend told me. I was not prepared for the emotional journey that we entered into. More than once, with misty eyes I looked over at my tough veteran husband and saw tears on his cheeks. When it was over he said, “I think that may be the best movie I’ve ever seen.”

So what is this film? “In honor of America’s 250th Anniversary, the film A Great Awakening [Sight and Sound] tells the true story of an unlikely friendship that resulted in one of the most defining moments in American history. With the colonies on the brink of collapse, the Reverend George Whitefield sparks the first Great Awakening, uniting an entire generation with his thundering proclamation of liberty in Christ. In a miraculous turn of events, one of Whitefield’s closest friends and greatest promoters becomes none other than Benjamin Franklin. With the nation’s freedom hanging in the balance, Franklin discovers true liberty cannot only be written into law–it must be awakened in the hearts of people.”

The film opened in theaters on April 3, 2026. It runs 2 hours and 9 minutes. The rating is PG-13. The cast includes Jonathan Blair as George Whitefield, John Paul Sneed as Benjamin Franklin, Russell Dean Schultz as George Washington, and Caleb Hughes and Carson Burkett as George and John Wesley. It explores how the movement united the American colonies and laid the groundwork for the 1776 revolution.

Relying on history, the colorful, charismatic characters move us from the tragedy of a poor boy in England, through the trials and confusion of a young student seeking the truth, to the triumph of Christ in a new nation through a young preacher’s message. The film is a commentary that promotes God in Christ, of course, but it also promotes kindness, friendship, persistence, and respect for those with a different idea, belief, or way of life.

Questions About Content

According to Kids In Mind:

The sexual content is limited to a woman’s hand on the married Franklin’s knee (suggesting more), several women who could possibly be prostitutes in a crowd, and a man’s chest seen through a wet shirt.

There is slightly more in the abuse column where a young man is shamed for having a bad eye, a woman who appears with a black eye, and a man who fasts until nearly dead. There is a little physical fighting and injury from rocks being thrown.

The Unlikely Friendship

“Let us proclaim freedom to the captives,” Whitefield proclaims to Americans. “Whom the son sets free is free indeed! Arise, O sleeper, awaken!” When it is suggested that the newly arrived Whitefield’s voice can be heard by 30,000 people at once, Franklin sets off to find out for himself, and judges the statement to be accurate.

“It was wonderful to see the Change soon made in the Manners of our Inhabitants; from being thoughtless or indifferent about Religion, it seem’d as if all the World were growing Religious; so that one could not walk thro’ the Town in an Evening without Hearing Psalms sung in different Families of every Street.” So writes Benjamin Franklin about the strange new preacher.

Franklin, however, is a Deist (meaning “the belief in the existence of a creator God who simply does not intervene anymore after creating the universe, solely based on rational thought and without any reliance on revealed religions or religious authorities),” and strikes up a relationship with Whitefield based on the possibility of financial gain:

“What did you make of Mr. Whitefield’s message today?” a girl asks Franklin.

“I plan to make a lot from it,” he replies.

But even if he cannot bring himself to agree with all the teachings of Whitefield, Franklin admires his skills of rhetoric and his passion. He prints and sells his sermons and promotes Whitfield’s appearances. As the two men spend time together, they become great friends and stay that way for over thirty years.

Other Considerations

Whitefield’s position on slavery is problematic. Although he welcomed African Americans to hear the gospel and treated them as spiritual equals in the salvation offered by Jesus Christ, and although he condemned the colonies for allowing slavery, he later took advantage of slave labor to run his orphanage in Georgia, claiming he could not afford it otherwise. Franklin called him out on it, too, leading to an argument between the friends.

Their debate is one with which we are familiar: faith vs. works; religion vs. morality.

Go See This Movie!

The history in the film is pretty solid, I’m assured by those who know more than I. My research seems to agree. So if you’re a history buff or if you like a good story of the passionate faith of a man who changed the direction of a country, you should see this movie.

On his facebook page, Ken Ham wrote, “Mally and I took some of our children and grandchildren to see the new movie produced by Sight and Sound – A Great Awakening. We all loved it! It’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. It’s emotional and very convicting—a movie about the life of the famous preacher George Whitefield. I was so thrilled our family could see this. I encourage every family to find a theater near you that is showing it and do not miss it! It may only be in theaters for another few days or so—it’s in about 1,000 theaters through this weekend.”

I think my favorite quote from the movie was when George Whitefield was criticized by the elder clergy for being such a dynamic story-teller when he preached. He responded to them, “I present my fiction as though it were truth; you present your truth as though it were fiction.”

I’ll just leave you with this: the characters in Christian films don’t always have to wear tunics and sandals to teach a thing to the glory of God.