Marine filmmaker hopes Biblical drama out this Easter shows audiences God's purpose in 'controversial' passage

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Director reflects on Biblical drama out this Easter: 'This film could not come out at a better time'

Director of Biblical drama based on story of Abraham and Isaac explained how the film came to be and what he wants audiences to understand about one of the most challenging passages in Scripture.

The story of Abraham and Isaac is one of the most challenging stories in the Bible but that's exactly what drew filmmaker David Helling to it.

His feature debut film, "His Only Son," depicts the account of Abraham's three-day journey up Mount Moriah to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering, as explained in Genesis. 

Helling, a former U.S. Marine, explained how his love for the Bible grew while serving overseas during the Iraq War. Now he's made it his life's mission to bring Scripture to the big screen.

Helling understands how the test God gave to Abraham troubles believers and nonbelievers alike. But he hopes audiences come away from the film with a better understanding of the significance behind one of the most misunderstood passages in Scripture.

"His Only Son" tells the story of Abraham and Isaac. (Photo credit: Angel Studios) (Angel Studios)

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"It's really one of the most controversial accounts in Scripture. It's a point of contention for many nonbelievers and for many believers it's a Scripture they don't really know how to defend. How come God asks this man to lay his own son down? I wanted to dig into Scripture and pull out the truth of what God was doing there," Helling told Fox News Digital.

While the film illustrates the Genesis 22 passage, it also flashes back to the years and events preceding this moment, where God had given Abraham a monumental promise.

"Abraham is reliving through flashback all the promises of God throughout his life as him and Sarah his wife had to wait for that son the Lord had promised," Helling explained.

Biblical scholars believe Jesus was crucified 2000 years later in the same place. Helling said he hopes audiences see how Abraham's story is relevant to Christ's death and resurrection in the Gospels.

Angel Studios "His Only Son" will premiere March 31 in theaters nationwide. (Photo Credit: Angel Studios) (Angel Studios)

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"In the Lord's testing of his faith, he had a very clear purpose in it. He was showing Abraham something...that memorial stone of sorts, this event in Abraham's life was going to echo through the millennia until the point when God would lay down his only son on the same mountain," Helling said. "I want people to see this and see, ‘Wow the Lord’s had His redemptive plan has been  in place… since before the beginning."

Helling told Fox News Digital the "Biblically authentic" film took around 5.5 years to complete, due to pandemic-related delays and actor conflicts. 

While he admitted the delays were discouraging at times, the filmmaker saw the bright side to having more time to complete the project. 

"Working on it for a long time for free essentially has given me the time to polish the film where it …stands up to a big screen presentation," he said. Besides directing, Helling also edited the movie.

The film will play in theaters worldwide on March 31. Angel Studios, the platform behind the hit Biblical drama series "The Chosen," crowdfunded for "His Only Son" and said it was the first time a theatrical release had been crowdfunded in entertainment history.

"His Only Son" released in theaters March 31, 2023. (photo courtesy Angel Studios)

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A three-week campaign to market the film broke records far surpassing its 400,000 dollar goal.

"Well, little did they know when they would release the campaign, to raise the marketing costs, it would reach the full cap of what they could raise, which was 1.235 million dollars in less than 100 hours," Helling said.

The film also conveys the hopeful message that God has a purpose in our pain, he said.

"For those of us that are in Christ,…for those of us who love him, and are called according to his purpose, we can have confidence that even in our darkest night, in our darkest season ,in the most wretched hurts that we have the Lord has a purpose in it and he's working it for our good," he said.

Reflecting on the Easter season release and audiences' hunger for faith films, Helling believes all the struggles to get the movie made were part of God's perfect timing.

"It seems like Christ is on the minds and the mouths of so many people around the country and around the world and it's like, 'Wow, this film could not come out at a…better time," Helling said.

"It just shows we couldn't have planned it, we couldn't have done this, this was all the Lord," he added.