The Gospel Coalition
The Gospel Coalition is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this
publication only count toward the Tomatometer when written by the following
Tomatometer-approved critic(s):
Brett McCracken
Rating
Title/Year
Author
1
Hillbilly Elegy (2020)
Hillbilly Elegy feels unintentionally condescending and uninterested in the very culture it seeks to humanize.
Posted Nov 10, 2020
2
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
By interchangeably telling the story with various 'performed' versions of it ... Sorkin observes the surreality of our 'infotainment' age.
Posted Oct 23, 2020
3
Cuties (Mignonnes) (2020)
[Everyone] should be able to say it is wrong for a film-any film, however well-intentioned-to depict close-up, lingering shots of scantily clad 11-year-olds twerking.
Posted Sep 17, 2020
4
Tenet (2020)
The real "inversion" of Tenet-and ultimately, all of Nolan's films-is that its stretching upward toward the heavens boomerangs back to this world.
Posted Sep 11, 2020
5
Boys State (2020)
6
Young Ahmed (Le jeune Ahmed) (2020)
Ahmed poses many difficult questions-about the nature of evil, rehabilitation, and the limits of empathy-that it leaves the audience to answer.
Posted Jul 10, 2020
7
First Cow (2020)
Like many of Reichardt's films, First Cow explores the elusive beauty of relational connection in a world that can feel isolating and cruel.
Posted Jul 10, 2020
8
Driveways (2020)
In times of cultural crisis, narratives like this remind us that change often happens locally, through the people we get to know, and learn to love, right next door.
Posted Jul 10, 2020
9
Da 5 Bloods (2020)
If it's messy at times and hard to watch at others ... it is mostly because the characters and history Lee explores are anything but neat and tidy.
Posted Jul 10, 2020
10
Athlete A (2020)
Among other things, the film ... is an inspiring reminder of the power of good journalism to expose corruption, advocate for the vulnerable, and bring truth to light.
Posted Jul 10, 2020
11
The Assistant (2020)
For Christians-who of all people should seek to dismantle rather than perpetuate cultures of abuse-this is an important film to watch.
Posted Jul 10, 2020
12
Emma. (2020)
Anya Taylor-Joy perfectly captures the iconic snobbery of the titular character, while also imbuing her with moral complexity and an openness to correction.
Posted Jul 10, 2020
13
Thy Kingdom Come (2018)
A gorgeous and empathetic offshoot from Terrence Malick's 2013 film To the Wonder.
Posted Jul 10, 2020
14
The Way Back (2020)
A story about second chances, redemption, and renewal; the path back to life after descending to the depths.
Posted Mar 6, 2020
15
Ford v Ferrari (2019)
16
Just Mercy (2020)
Just Mercy powerfully captures the maddening anguish of innocent people who spend years of their lives behind bars-years they can never get back.
Posted Jan 21, 2020
17
Dark Waters (2019)
Captures the 'long pursuit' aspect of justice especially well ... Justice-seeking is often a lonely pursuit. It doesn't win profits or popularity. It's costly more than lucrative.
Posted Jan 21, 2020
18
1917 (2020)
The action is propulsive and unrelenting, greatly enhanced by the 'time running out' motif of real-time plot.
Posted Jan 6, 2020
19
A Hidden Life (2019)
20
The Irishman (2019)
Sort of like the Forrest Gump of gangster movies. It tells a specific man's story but against the backdrop of a half-century of American history.
Posted Nov 20, 2019
21
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Ultimately Jojo is a film about change: the possibility and process of it; how it happens; why it's compelling to watch.
Posted Nov 9, 2019
22
Joker (2019)
Joker is the perfect bogeyman for our age, embodying the toxic, corrosive power of an entertainment-obsessed, hyper-mediated society of spectacle.
Posted Oct 5, 2019
23
Ad Astra (2019)
One of the most theologically interesting [films] of the year.
Posted Sep 27, 2019
24
The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
This is a rare movie that is sincere, joyous, and un-cynical, but also artfully made ... In dark and anxious times, we need more films like this.
Posted Sep 7, 2019
25
First Man (2018)
For all its technical merits, narrative intrigue, and fine acting, something feels hollow.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
26
Smallfoot (2018)
[The film's] simplistic binary between faith and science dangerously obscures the more nuanced reality.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
27
Operation Finale (2018)
[Operation Finale] reminds us that ultimate justice, true 'finale' judgment, is not up to us or even possible in this life.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
28
Christopher Robin (2018)
As any artist or creator will attest, along with Pooh, it is often the 'unproductive' spaces and 'irrelevant' explorations that lead to the best things.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
29
Eighth Grade (2018)
The film shows the disturbing disconnect between online confidence and in-person self-consciousness.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
30
Recovery Boys (2018)
The film is beautifully made: moving without being manipulative, informative without being didactic, subtly observational in the manner of great documentary filmmaking.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
31
Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
We may never have another Mister Rogers, but shouldn't we be looking for ways to use media the way he did -- to edify and dignify and model virtue?
Posted Aug 19, 2019
32
First Reformed (2018)
It makes astute observations about the state of religion generally in our secular age, as well as the toxic temptations facing Christians particularly.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
33
The Rider (2018)
It reminds us of the dignifying power of work and purpose in human existence, even as it ponders the meaning of life when these things are taken away.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
34
The Heretic (2018)
The Heretic comes across more as an extended PR reel for Bell than a documentary that engages all sides of his story.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
35
Come Sunday (2018)
A cautionary tale about the abuses and theological confusion that can arise in charismatic cultures where 'God told me' is common parlance.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
36
Chappaquiddick (2018)
A chastening, timely picture of the corrosive effects of power and the compromises we make in the name of self-preservation.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
37
Phantom Thread (2018)
Infectiously interested in the gratuitous and quirky beauty of the world.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
38
Hostiles (2018)
A film with a distinctly Christian grasp of universal culpability and reconciling grace.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
39
Mudbound (2017)
There is a lot of sin to go around in Mudbound, a film whose agrarian setting feels like a sort of Paradise Lost.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
40
The Florida Project (2017)
Despite the seeming hopelessness of their tragic situation, the children of The Florida Project are mostly full of precocious joy.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
41
Wonderstruck (2017)
Wonderstruck explores the awe, innocence, and curiosity of childhood -- even when surrounded by adult dangers and trauma.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
42
All Saints (2017)
Here's another question the film raises: what if refugees and immigrants are part of God's answer to our prayers for revival in the American church?
Posted Aug 19, 2019
43
Dunkirk (2017)
Nolan's knack for 'sculpting in time' reaches a new apex. Dunkirk is to Nolan as 'David' is to Michelangelo. It's his masterpiece.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
44
A film that groans for grace amid the brutality of a dog-eat-dog world.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
45
Arrival (2016)
A film that uses an alien encounter on earth to probe deeper questions about faith, time, suffering, and love.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
46
A short but sprawling cantata that functions as a sort of Cliff's Notes capstone to Malick's 45-year filmmaking career.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
47
Ben-Hur (2016)
Ben-Hur suffers from many faith-based genre pitfalls -- on-the-nose dialogue, unsubtle 'cross' imagery and parallelism, saccharine endings.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
48
It's a slasher film about a bogeyman of a different, more disturbing sort.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
49
Boy Erased (2018)
A well-acted and moving drama that nevertheless traffics in the 'no shades of gray' neo-fundamentalism of contemporary progressivism.
Posted Aug 19, 2019
50
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)