Children of God

2011
6.6| 1h44m| en
Details

Johnny is an art student in Nassau whose technique is perfect, but he’s creatively blocked. His teacher sends him off to the rural island of Eleuthera where he meets Romeo, a hot musician. They begin a clumsy dance of attraction and romance. Romeo has a fiancé and is identified as straight, but he’s been known to play with the boys on the side secretly. The Bahamas are bound by religious traditions that discourage homosexuality and end up forcing gay men into the closet. These characters are all bound together in this intense drama of love, family and secrets.

Director

Producted By

TLA Releasing

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Clips

Also starring Johnny Ferro

Also starring Stephen Tyrone Williams

Reviews

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped
Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
hddu10 It's rare that we get a glimpse into the various social strata of Bahamanian life, so this film had an immense amount of promise to it. However, the overall acting and situations were just a bit too "out there" to be believable. Yes, I'm sure there are closeted preachers and thugs who prey upon the fears of gays by day and prowl for men at night. But the depths of the hatred from these characters in the film made them seem more like villainous caricatures than 3-dimensional people. But I'm giving 5 stars for effort, as well as the allusions the film made towards spirituality and the afterlife...the only non-preachy part about this film that respectfully and intelligently left it up to the viewer to decide.
Jon In spite of the tremendous advances in gay rights in many countries in recent years, homophobia is actually intensifying in many place. While first and foremost a beautiful and tender personal drama, Children of God is also a study of anti-gay intolerance in the Bahamas. The main story is about Johnny, a gay art student who's so broken that he can no longer express his feelings on canvas, can't defend himself even verbally, and can't even touch another human being. Faced with losing his art scholarship, his teacher directs him to spend a few days on the island of Eleuthera to reconnect with nature, and hopefully his own artistic spirit. There he meets the aptly-named Romeo, who helps him to discover hope, trust, and love.The second-most prominent story, which lightly touches Johnny's, is that of Ralph and his family. Ralph is a vehemently anti-gay preacher with a secret, driven to stage anti-gay rallies. Lena, his wife, learns she has acquired an STD from him. When she tries to find out what he's done, he turns on her, and to cope, she buries herself even more deeply in his "Save the Bahamas" campaign, hoping to find solace in certainty. In turn, she unwittingly bullies her young son, who becomes afraid that he might be go to hell if he does something "sissy."Children of God isn't perfect. Some of the meetings toward the end seem somewhat forced, and religious dialogue, always difficult to handle well, doesn't sound quite as natural as it did in, say, Wise Kids. And some of Johnny's quirks seem implausible; how can you have sex if you're afraid to shake hands? The most serious flaw is a character named Purple who has no development. The movie would be improved omitting him and rewriting the ending.Yet for all this, it's a very good film. If you don't need Hollywood CGI explosions, and can enjoy small stories of the heart, you'll enjoy Children of God.
Nek_bbew Okay,.. Not every film featuring a Gay person needs to have a Gay sex scene. Now that that's out of the way,....This is a great movie. It is not an entertaining stereotypical flick. This film is not just about a Gay couple.This addresses a country and it's people. It addresses people and relationships - all types.There are moments where everyone will relate,.. And some where you won't. It doesn't jerk at your heart,... It doesn't leave you all warm and fuzzy,... But it is a great story.For those that demand it follow some pitiful story line or match up to so something that it isn't ,... Shame on you. You take a movie and review it,.. I liked it,.. And would encourage others to see it. It might just open a new train of thought in your noggin,...and who knows,..broaden your mind.
sandover I am not aware how strong is the state of repression and bigotry that governs or not Caribbean societies, but the director and writer of this film is a Bahamian; it is then a shame that the way he addresses these issues derives from a sitcom approach. This is enough to stall matters into a regressive political state.The boys share a nice dance, and dancing the way they do it, popping out of bed instead of doing the sex routine, and do "how they feel like", as one of the two admonishes, is something we do not come to expect from gay themed movies. This much is true. It is also true that the soundtrack is good, but it is like it does all the work that should be put into a more cinematic approach.The stories do not interconnect, they are left on the device of some sort of nebulous plea that should run by itself. And then, at the film's final spin, the script abandons its spine for an unabashed melodramatic, quasi-metaphysical last seal that brings the house down.We then gather lines spoken before that foreground that sentimentalized last installment that comes out of and into the blue. This is bad, and it is a pity because the two leads are good, though Jonny Ferro is better by far. And then the summer-drenched cinematography proves that colors only are God's children in this film, and humans fail to connect with them, unless it is at the moment of their death. This does not sing the blues, it is just irrelevant.