Why SMALL GROUP Director Uses Movies to Communicate God’s Truth
By Movieguide® Contributor
Filmmaker Matt Chastain recently spoke on the “Faith & Filmmakers Association” podcast about his journey into screenwriting, sharing what inspired his film SMALL GROUP.
“I was in my mid-30s, my wife and I just joined a new church…I have a lot of friends who would talk about small group all the time and one buddy in particular would always miss Tuesday softball because you that small group,” he shared.
After trying out a few small groups at his church, Chastain and his wife found one they connected with.
“I’m sitting there. It’s a second or third meeting. We’re having a good time, we’re shooting the breeze, we’re at the guy’s house who my character in the movie is actually based on, and he’s hilarious, he’s a riot,” Chastain said. “And I’m thinking man this is a great environment for storytelling.”
After this, Chastain took on his first movie writing project and created the film SMALL GROUP.
Movieguide® summarized the movie:
SMALL GROUP is a faith-based comedy on DVD, Blu-ray and streaming. It follows Scott Cooper and his pregnant wife, Mary, as he goes undercover as a fake Christian to make a documentary about the dwindling influence of Christianity in America. Scott and Mary are skeptical about what they’re doing but end up developing a real relationship with Jesus Christ. However, that relationship is tested through several traumatic events and a betrayal by the man producing Scott’s movie.
Chastain also commented on the importance of storytelling and the process of creating a meaningful movie for people.
“What we have to do is go through our own script and be objective enough to go, ‘All right. Stop preaching. This is expositional,’” he said. “That’s what Jesus tells us. The disciples are asking him, ‘Why are you telling parables.’ He’s like, ‘because they don’t understand, so we got to tell them stories so that they can understand the metaphorical connection to the logic we’re trying to give them.’ Right, and that’s our job as filmmakers.”
He believes that Christian filmmakers should make their movies as life-like as possible.
“My heart for storytelling in this film was — from writing through production — being as true to real life as possible,” he told The Christian Post. “In real life, I find most Christians to be normal people, not hyper-religious. That real-life execution of a Gospel-driven life is what excited me about being in a small group, so I couldn’t be an honest filmmaker if I did it any other way.”
Chastain put his writing skills to work in VINDICATION. Part of Movieguide®’s review for Season 3 reads:
Season 3 of VINDICATION takes the program’s usual twists and turns them into a roller coaster ride. Tight scripts, top acting, skillful editing, and excellent camerawork always leave viewers wanting more. Season 3 has a strong Christian, moral worldview where the Christian faith of Detective Travis and his family grows, faces challenges and finds new paths to healing. For example, Travis starts a Bible study in jail. Movieguide® advises caution for children, however, because of drug references and the evil government officials and criminals in VINDICATION.
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