The American Christian film industry hasn’t been terribly successful at crossing over to general audiences, and Journey to Bethlehem still succumbs to corny attempts at humor and performances that can still feel too self-conscious. But not unlike a musical such as Jesus Christ Superstar, this movie finds moderate success at balancing its faith-based elements with a focus on individual characters. Creative license has obviously been taken here to varying results: the songwriting is generally uninspired and lacks a unified style, but the songs add much-needed shades of humanity to a story that most people probably know as a Sunday school summary.
"A competent, if undistinguished directorial debut with the least edgy retelling of the nativity story around (which is essentially what the faith-based audience has been asking for)."
— Peter Debruge
A young woman carrying an unimaginable responsibility. A young man torn between love and honor. A jealous king who will stop at nothing to keep his crown.
Forced into an arranged marriage, Mary and Joseph face rejection by their families and being hunted down by Roman forces, after Mary finds herself carrying the Son of God.
You'd already expect more character to be given to Mary and Joseph (Fiona Palomo and Milo Manheim)—their doubts and their fear, given the situation they've been plunged into—but the most interesting addition to this version of the Nativity story is Herod's son Antipater (Joel Smallbone). He pursues the couple under orders to kill them, but has his own crisis of faith (and solo song!) that weirdly stays consistent with the film's larger themes of parental relationships and what a leader should be. Is this character really necessary to the overall plot? Probably not. But he does add something unexpected.
This honestly isn't bad as far as faith-based films go, especially since it should be a great jumping-off point for introducing younger viewers to Jesus Christ Superstar.
