PARABLE

Name: PARABLE
Item: PARABLE
Author: Review

"A Faith-Based Spin on The Breakfast Club"

Family 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:

PARABLE is a science fiction drama streaming on Angel about six strangers with amnesia trapped inside a city apartment. The six young adults are suspicious of one another but discover that their personal troubles are slowly killing them. The only path to escape is for them to share their emotional trauma. Will they make it out alive?

PARABLE can best be described as a modern day, faith-based rendition of THE BREAKFAST CLUB. It’s a low-budget movie about unlikely strangers forced to interact in an isolated location. PARABLE is a compelling character-driven mystery. The script is well-realized, decently acted, and has a strong Christian, moral worldview promoting Scripture, hope, prayer, and the sanctity of life. For example, a character uses story imagery to gesture toward thinking about God. PARABLE reflects on how one should live their final moments. However, PARABLE features moderate violence, a discussion of suicidal ideation, and a poignant discussion about death. Also, the narrative pacing is slightly sluggish, and the cinematography falls a little short. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children and teenagers.

Content:

(CC, BB, L, VV, S, A):
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
Strong Christian, moral, pro-life worldview that values life and helping friends through group therapy, a character uses story imagery to gesture toward thinking about God, a man rescues a woman who almost commits suicide, a therapist encourages her patients to explore their anxieties in a group meeting, several characters have a strong relationship with their parents, a man grieves over the death of his wife, and the characters vow to meet up again after the story ends;
Foul Language:
One character utters the “h” word;
Violence:
Brief moments of moderate violence and gore, a man is shot offscreen and has wounds in the head and the torso, a woman mentions her suicidal ideation and her urge to jump into a New York subway track, a man states his father suffers from paralysis from the waist down, a woman passes a red light and gets hit by a bus, and a poet writes a story about people hurtling towards a waterfall;
Sex:
No onscreen sex, but a man openly flirts with a woman, a character calls a girl "sweetheart" in a condescending tone,” and two adults (a man and a woman) hold hands as they escape an apartment;
Nudity:
No nudity;
Alcohol Use:
No alcohol use, but a character briefly mentions that their mother drank, characters sit at a table with full wine glasses but no one drinks;
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
No smoking or drugs abuse;
Miscellaneous Immorality:
No miscellaneous immorality. (BB, CC, L, VV, S, A)

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

A strong Christian viewpoint that values life and helping friends through group therapy, a poet writes parables about being resilient in the face of death, a man rescues a woman who almost commits suicide, a therapist encourages her patients to explore their anxieties in a group meeting, several characters have a strong relationship with their parents, a man grieves over the death of his wife, and the characters vow to meet up again after the story ends;

Foul Language:

One character utters the “h’ word;

Violence:

Brief moments of moderate violence and gore, a man is shot offscreen and has wounds in the head and the torso, a woman mentions her suicidal ideation about jumping into in a New York subway track, a man states his father suffers from paralysis from the waist down, a woman passes a red light and gets hit by a bus, and a poet writes a story about people hurtling towards a waterfall;

Sex:

No on-screen sex, but a man openly flirts with a woman, a jock “cat calls” a girl and teases her and call her ”sweetheart," and two adults (a man and a woman) hold hands as the escape the apartment;

Nudity:

No nudity;

Alcohol Use:

A woman mentions drinking alcohol but nothing is shown, wine glasses are shown on a table but no one partakes;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drug abuse; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

No miscellaneous immorality.

More Detail:

PARABLE can best be described as a modern, faith-based rendition of THE BREAKFAST CLUB. It’s a low-budget movie about unlikely strangers forced to interact in an isolated location. The characters start distrustful of one another but slowly open up to their vulnerabilities. By the end, the characters depart with a more mature outlook on life.

PARABLE succeeds on an emotional level, but falters in technical prowess. The script is rich in decent character acting, some touching “spiritual healing” moments, and themes concerning life and death. Without getting into spoilers, the ending is a tear-jerker for Christians of any denomination.

However, the movie’s cinematography falls a little short, the narrative pacing is slightly sluggish, and the abrupt use of stock footage at the end is underwhelming. PARABLE is well acted, but it doesn’t reach the same caliber as other movies released by Angel Studios.

Like its namesake, PARABLE is steeped in the parables and teachings of Christianity. The characters value family, engaging in group therapy sessions, and the sanctity of life. A man rescues a woman from dying in the subway. The characters open up about their traumas, such as losing their parents, becoming widowers and sacrificing their lives for the greater good. Later in the movie, a character uses story imagery to gesture toward thinking about God.

Lastly, the characters vow to meet up again if they escape the apartment complex. The movie tackles the heavy subject matter of death and contains moderate violence. There is one use of the word “hell” as well. Lastly, PARABLE reflects on how one should live their final moments.

PARABLE is a compelling character-driven mystery. The script is well-realized, decently acted, and has a strong Christian view promoting hope, prayer and the sanctity of life. However, it features moderate violence, a discussion of suicidal ideation, and a poignant discussion of death. Also, the narrative pacing is slightly sluggish, and the cinematography falls a little short. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for teenagers and sensitive adults.