LEFT BEHIND

REVIEWED BY ANNA T.

Our rating: 4 out of 5

Because of: violence, thematic elements

Rated:

The film begins in a lush wheat field. Two central characters are conversing over the sudden crop failures and Chiam's formula, "The Eden Project." Out of nowhere, hundreds of fighter jets come across the sky. Bombs are dropped, and they dash for shelter in the military base. Horror of horrors, Israel's military can't seem to get their planes in the sky. When it looks like Israel will be lost, the planes mysteriously begin exploding....

Rayford and Irene Steele appear to live a normal life. But underneath it all is a brewing nest of trouble. Their daughter Chloe doesn't like her mother's beliefs, and neither does Rayford, who is involved with a stewardess named Hattie at work. Rayford, who is an airline pilot, thinks nothing of his affair. But suddenly his life takes on a different meaning when mid-flight, the occupants of his plane begin to disappear into thin air. They simply vanish! Among the passengers on his plane is Buck, a reporter for GNN. When a woman asks him to help find her husband, he discovers that the man is gone... leaving only his clothes behind. The plane is turned around. Rayford races home to find that his wife and son have also vanished! His daughter Chloe is driving to college when she comes upon a collision scene in the street. The truck that caused the crash is empty, save for a pair of clothes...

Chloe goes home and is happily reunited with her father, but she finds that he now has a personal relationship with God. He believes that Jesus has taken all those who believe in Him to heaven and Chloe doesn't want that. She clings desperately to the thought that her mother and brother might come back. In the meantime, with millions of people gone, Buck wants to find out why all those people vanished. However, he isn't quite prepared to believe the wild ideas of his friend Derke Burton. Later, Buck finds Derke dead in his house and takes the CD that Derke had shown him to his fellow reporter's apartment. 

What they find is a map of the Jewish temple with secret codes. After a serious of shocking events that leave him with no other friends, Buck turns to Rayford and Pastor Barnes. What they tell him is startling. During all these events, a new political figure arises -- Nicolae Carpathia. Could this sinister manipulator of minds and beliefs be the anti-Christ foretold in Biblical prophecy? Can Buck and Chloe see the light before it's too late? Or will they be swept into the great tribulation with all other unbelievers?

My whole family liked Left Behind. There are very few cautions... a man is covered in blood from a car wreck, an automobile lows up, and two men are shot in the head (nothing graphic, you see the gun, hear the shot then see the dead person lying on the ground). Guns appear in other scenes, threatening the main characters. A dead man with a hole in his chest is shown. Language is just two "Oh, my God!"s that sound more like a prayer than a curse word. Rayford and a Hattie are shown giving each other a short kiss in the airplane kitchen, but that is the extent of their relationship. (Spoiler: Rayford does tell Hattie later in the movie that their relationship was wrong, and Hattie goes off in tears.)

I love the scene where a central character asks the Lord to come into his life; also when Rayford and Chloe kneel down together and pray. It's very touching. In some parts you will cry. The movie will make you think about all the people you know that are not saved. Those who are fans of Contemporary Christian Music will see a few familiar faces in the extras -- such as Rebecca St. James, the group Jake, and Bob Carlisle. I'll warn you, if you are a fan of the books, it is quite different from the novel form. If you have not read the books -- or are willing to put them out of your head for awhile -- I think you'll enjoy this film.