I HATE YOU, BUT IT’S KILLING ME

Name: I HATE YOU, BUT IT’S KILLING ME
Item: I HATE YOU, BUT IT’S KILLING ME
Author: Lillie Jaenchen

"A Celebration of Forgiveness Through Real-Life Stories"

Content: -1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

Credits →

What You Need To Know:

I HATE YOU, BUT IT’S KILLING ME is a powerful documentary on Amazon. It features real-life stories of people who overcome severe trauma and pain by forgiving the people who inflicted such evil on them. It demonstrates how holding hatred in one’s heart doesn’t heal wounds. One of the people interviewed, for example, likens hate to “drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” The movie strongly promotes the healing power of forgiveness and the dangers of all forms of hate, from racism and xenophobia to hatred of one’s abusive parents.

I HATE YOU, BUT IT’S KILLING ME is fantastically imaginative and well made. It has surrealistic reenactment scenes that viscerally convey the emotions of the people interviewed. The movie tells its stories with the uncomfortable, poignant integrity that results when filmmaker courageously let people speak their hearts, no matter how challenging or disturbing. I HATE YOU, BUT IT’S KILLING ME addresses themes that may disturb young viewers, but it describes evil acts as sins that must be forgiven. The movie’s message of forgiveness is essential for Christians to understand and apply.

Content:

(CCC, BBB, V, S, AA, DD, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong biblical message, promotes forgiveness of those who have wronged us, demonstrates how hatred exacerbates pain and destroys people, and forgiveness uplifts them, , addresses difficult themes tastefully, such as domestic violence, racism, infidelity, and child abuse;

Foul Language:

Non obscenities or profanities, but one “n” word is heard;

Violence:

Discussions of domestic violence;

Sex:

References to sexual abuse;

Nudity:

No nudity;

Alcohol Use:

References to alcohol abuse and alcoholism;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking but references to drug abuse; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Discussions of racism.

More Detail:

I HATE YOU, BUT IT’S KILLING ME is a documentary on Amazon featuring the real-life stories of people who have overcome severe trauma and pain through forgiving the people who inflicted such evil and horror on them. I HATE YOU, BUT IT’S KILLING ME demonstrates how holding hatred in one’s heart does not heal wounds; one of the subjects likens hate to “drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.” The movie promotes the healing power of forgiveness and the dangers of all forms of hate, from racism and xenophobia to hatred of one’s abusive parents.

I HATE YOU, BUT IT’S KILLING ME is fantastically imaginative, with surrealist reenactment scenes that viscerally convey the emotions of the documentary’s subjects. The stories in the movie have great B-roll cinematography and top-tier sound design. The movie tells its subjects’ stories with the uncomfortable, poignant integrity that results from the filmmaker’s courage to let them speak their hearts, no matter how challenging or disturbing it may come out. If the documentary has a flaw, it is that it states its thesis too early, causing it to play out as more of a structured essay or argument rather than an organic narrative. Even so, however, the movie argues this thesis on forgiveness so powerfully that structural or literary critiques falter in the face of awe of the subjects’ emotional and spiritual fortitude.

I HATE YOU, BUT IT’S KILLING ME addresses themes that may be disturbing to young viewers, but it does so with taste, and it contextualizes racism, abuse, and other transgressions as sins that can be and must be forgiven. The movie’s message is essential for Christians to understand and take to heart. As Christ forgave us, so must we forgive those who have hurt us, even to the point of being supposedly “unforgiveable.” Caution is advised for younger ages, but adults and mature young people will undoubtedly benefit from viewing this piece.

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