Filmmaker Statement

When we’re growing up, our parents are our whole world. The sun rises and sets with them, until one day we realize that they’re fallible. All of the sudden, we start to see them as people with their own flaws and foibles. With GRACE, we set out to capture the feeling of that moment. We wanted to tell a thrilling and twisted coming-of-age story about a son’s discovery that his father is not a god. Are we destined to become our parents? This story is set in the world of hipster megachurches and preachers with sneakers. This is an evangelical culture of the millennial faithful that mixes social media savvy with Bronze Age religious traditions. While these churches may present a youthful face, their progressive veneer masks a patriarchal culture that evangelizes fundamentalist beliefs. There’s no amount of streetwear that can cover up what’s often going on behind the scenes: a culture of abuse, sex scandals, gay conversion therapy, tax evasion, predatory tithing, and more.