Filmmaker Jimmy Jenkins says a conversation with a teenager in a juvenile detention facility led him to make God With Us, a modern retelling of the Nativity that opens in select theaters Nov. 13.
What happened? Jenkins told The Christian Post he was sharing the Gospel at the facility when a 16-year-old incarcerated for murder said God could not save young offenders like him. Jenkins replied that the Bible is full of flawed people God still used. The teen then asked him, as a filmmaker, to tell the story of Jesus set in his own neighborhood so he could understand it.
What is the film about? Set in an urban Maryland neighborhood, it follows childhood sweethearts Mary Anne Thomas (Ashley Olivia Fisher) and Joseph "Junie" Love (Aspen Kennedy) after Mary Anne discovers she is miraculously pregnant. Lil Rel Howery, Rotimi, and Clifton Powell are among the cast.
Has it drawn criticism? Yes. Jenkins said some people have called the approach blasphemous. The film opens with a disclaimer that it is not meant to rewrite the Gospel, and he said the goal is to reach people who would never walk into a church.
Jenkins said he hopes viewers who feel disqualified by their past will "give Jesus another try." The film's title echoes Immanuel, "God with us," in Matthew 1:23.
Related article: "God With Us" Retells the Nativity in Modern Maryland: Release Date, Cast and Trailer
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