This is a response to Marcus Pittman’s article in The Federalist called Project Hail Mary Is The Masculine Christian Film You’ve Been Waiting For.
I am responding to his case that Project Hail Mary is a Christian Movie and what that means.
Before we start, I wholeheartedly agree with Pittman that we want and need “objectively good Christian movie[s]… that rival the biblical imagery and depth of J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis.” He also goes through many thoughtful and Biblical metaphors that you can observe in Project Hail Mary if you are looking for them.
Some commenters on social media don’t like his opinion. They say that a Hail Mary is a sports term, and not a Christian reference in the movie. They have criticised this article, and others, where they call Project Hail Mary a Christian Movie. Given that I have written in depth about Christian films, there are some observations I can make – which I believe will be helpful.
Throughout the article, Pittman talks about Christian movies in a negative light. Pittman refers to the Christian film industry, and its output of “campy, Church-themed, Hallmark slop “ being targeted at women and pastors.
This is somewhat true. The audience is often women and there have been many bad quality Christian Movies. However, the Christian film industry is broader than what he describes, including movies with arguably a male target audience (End of the Spear, Paul: Apostle of Christ, Courageous, Thr3e, The Passion of the Christ).
There have also been many amazing, well-crafted Christian Movies. (Amazing Grace (2006), The Case for Christ, and Jesus Revolution, to name a few.)
He writes:
“It was written by a self-described agnostic, Andy Weir. But somehow, an unbeliever was able to pack biblical images into his science-fiction epic. Not once did it feel like he was preaching to the audience. There was never an altar call, and Scripture was never read. The midpoint didn’t have a pastor. Yet Weir, as an unbeliever, was able to produce perhaps one of the best Christian movies of all time — one that inspires men to be men, to risk their lives and sacrifice for others.
Here is the rub: We are both saying “Christian Movies”, but we mean different things.
The people who disagree with Pittman, are just saying it’s not ‘a Christian Movie’, as they understand it.
Some context for us: in the Christian subculture in the West, the term ‘Christian Movie’ has come to mean “an inspiring narrative film with explicit Christian characters and/or events”. For example, I Can Only Imagine is about the writing of a song about meeting Jesus in Heaven (and the father-son relationship that inspired the songwriter). Jesus Revolution is about the hippie revival in the 1970s, told through the eyes of some young hippies.
Amazing Grace is about a Christian politician working tirelessly to abolish slavery, being motivated by his biblical beliefs. (And he conveniently happens to be friends with the hymnwriter of arguably the world’s most famous hymn.)
Writers with Pittman’s point of view are going to have a hard time convincing some movie fans that Project Hail Mary is a Christian Movie, because it doesn’t fit in the genre with the name ‘Christian Movie’.
This is a genre that has been around for 50 years but has really only gotten better in the past 15 years. (The duo that really increased the quality of Christian Movies was the Erwin Brothers, who released their first film in 2011.)
There is also a question raised about the audience of Christian Movies. Who should be the target audience?
“Not once did it feel like he was preaching to the audience. There was never an altar call, and Scripture was never read. The midpoint didn’t have a pastor.”
I believe that good Christian Movies aimed at churchgoers will also have a flow-on effect to other members of the public. For example, when Jesus Revolution came out, there were stories of people being baptised right after seeing the movie. In one case, they got baptised in the fountain at the mall.
These days, Christian Movies are on the streaming services, and in mainstream theatres. They are naturally going to be seen by people not in the church.
This can be a good thing, because people unaccustomed to the Bible’s message of salvation can hear about it in contexts where they are more open to hearing it.
The Passion of The Christ made USD $1B, when adjusted for inflation. The Chosen TV series has gone viral and was in the top 10 US Box Office last year. Animated Bible stories The King of Kings and David each made about USD $80M in 2025.
So, there are examples of Christian films drawing in a large audience. What would be nice is if there was more money in the marketing budget for the good Christian Movies.
Pittman says:
“Project Hail Mary should inspire us to invest in a different kind of masculine Christian storytelling that breaks the existing market categories and challenges the conventions of the female-driven faith-based market.”
He talks about disrupting the industry.
However what it seems he wants, is not movies that have a Biblical message, but movies with a biblical worldview.
Someone can’t walk out of Project Hail Mary and convert to Christianity, because Jesus Christ and the Bible aren’t mentioned. (As far as I recall. If they were, it wasn’t memorable.) The movie won’t give them any reason to Google the Bible or Jesus.
The majority of the audience of Project Hail Mary will finish the movie having no inkling that it is a Christian Movie. There may be some Christian symbolism to enjoy, but only if you know what you are looking for.
Calling Project Hail Mary a Christian Movie is like calling The Lord of the Rings a Christian Movie trilogy. There are many narrative themes that are based upon the values of the Bible, that have been inherent in Western society for centuries. Gandalf is a saviour figure. There are themes of temptation and duty, good vs evil, sacrifice and hope. However, there are no mentions of Christianity.
People who call Project Hail Mary a Christian Movie actually want movies told from a biblical worldview (and perhaps featuring some allegorical symbolism).
It would actually be really nice to once again have an influx of amazing new movies with Biblical themes as the core of the story. Movies that come to mind are The Shawshank Redemption, The Sound of Music, The Chronicles of Narnia, Fantastic Four: First Steps and Beauty and the Beast.
But we also need Christian Movies: “inspiring narrative films with explicit Christian characters and/or events”.
I believe Christian Movies are a light in the darkness for everyone. They tell true stories of hope amid hardship, and lives transformed by grace. They show the softening of hearts, and people with Desperate Dependent Trust in Jesus Christ.
Good Christian Movies depict the world getting better, and filled with light, because of Jesus.
Christian Movies, or movies with a biblical worldview?
Why not both?
Jonathan Paper 