About “Through a Screen Darkly”

Through a Screen Darkly: Looking Closer at Beauty, Truth, and Evil at the Movies” – by Jeffrey Overstreet

Welcome to the confessions of a Christian moviegoer.

Jeffrey Overstreet, film enthusiast and movie reviewer, takes readers on a journey that spans the globe.

From a desert scene in Mongolia to a galaxy far, far away, you’ll explore the power of cinematic journeys to introduce life-changing new insights. While visiting the angels of Wings of Desire and the inquisitive British newcomers of The New World, he’ll show you how different characters, different worldviews and different experiences offer pieces of a larger truth.

Examining methods and styles employed by Martin Scorsese, Tony Scott, Paul Thomas Anderson, Akira Kurosawa and Krzysztof Kieslowski, Overstreet highlights the ways in which art and entertainment can both harm and heal. You’ll find excerpts from his conversations with directors Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), Wim Wenders(Wings of Desire) and Patrice Leconte (The Widow of St. Pierre), and producer Ralph Winter (the X-Men series).

What makes some films timeless rather than merely popular has everything to do with the way these artists — whether they know it or not — have captured reflections of God in their work.

Publishers Weekly, Christianity Today, Image, Relevant, Paste magazine’s Andy Whitman, and filmmakers like Scott Derrickson and Darren Aronofsky have praised Through a Screen Darkly as “compelling,” “inspiring,” and “masterful.”

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• Read the Christianity Today interview with Jeffrey Overstreet.

[TEMPORARILY OFFLINE. CHECK BACK LATER.] Read bonus chapters, film recommendation lists, and follow-up readings, reviews, interviews, and commentaries (as mentioned in the back of the book).