“Sound of Freedom’s” producers have turned their fans into an angry mob over this woke bait-and-switch

Angel Studios blew up on the cinematic scene in 2023 with the release of their surprise hit, Sound of Freedom. 

The faith-based movie makers have struggled to create that same magic ever since, though.

And now Sound of Freedom’s producers have turned their fans into an angry mob over this woke bait-and-switch.

Homestead debuts in theaters

On paper, Angel Studios’ new movie, Homestead – which debuted in theaters this past weekend – had everything needed to deliver a hard-hitting, entertaining and thought-provoking movie experience religious and conservative fans would love. 

First of all, the trailer grabbed viewers’ attention and left them wanting more. 

Additionally, Homestead came from the same studio that brought the world to tears with the Jim Caviezel-led Sound of Freedom. 

The film was directed by Ben Smallbone, the brother of the stars of KING + COUNTRY, and Rebecca St. James of Unsung Hero fame. 

And it stars Neal McDonough, who not only is a solid actor but also is so based that he won’t even do kissing scenes with any woman who is not his wife. 

And the premise of the movie sounded beyond promising. 

“A nuclear bomb is detonated in Los Angeles, and the nation devolves into unprecedented chaos,” the official synopsis reads. “Ex-Green Beret Jeff Eriksson and his family escape to The Homestead, an eccentric prepper’s fortress nestled in the mountains. As violent threats and apocalyptic conditions creep toward their borders, the residents of The Homestead are left to wonder: how long can a group of people resist both the dangers of human nature and the bloodshed at their doorstep?”

Off to a strong start . . .

And with a few exceptions, like some storylines starting but not resolving – more on that later – the movie delivers for about 90% of its running time. 

The opening scene draws the audience in, and Smallbone’s quick pacing keeps people engaged. 

The writing and McDonough’s performance are so emotion-evoking that, at the showing this reviewer attended, the audience audibly gasped when one unfortunate event befell the main character. 

And unlike the drivel normally coming out of Hollywood, Homestead dares to tangle with topics and questions far more consequential than any of the nonsense the woke politicians use to distract Americans. 

The motion picture inspires movie-goers to consider deep queries, like the pitfalls of elevating false idols, the reality of force doctrine, the need for traditional gender roles, the tentative nature of private property rights, and the value of the Second Amendment. 

The movie even nods its cap to alternate currencies, alternative media and preppers. 

But then, for some reason, Angel Studios lowered the boom on the audience. 

Angel Studios goes woke?

The movie ends with not one, but two bait-and-switches. 

First, after building good will with the anti-woke for the first 90 minutes of the film, the message turns on a dime and suddenly becomes an open-borders propaganda piece. 

Without going into spoiler specifics, the moral of the movie turns out to be, “diversity is our strength.” 

And they use the same faulty faux-Christian reasoning that Catholic Charities uses to destroy small communities with its refugee resettlement programs. 

But not only does Homestead try to shoe-horn in open-borders dogma to its Right-leaning fans – but the movie itself is nothing more than a bait-and-switch. 

Remember the previously mentioned unresolved storylines? 

There’s a big reason for that. 

Homestead isn’t actually a movie. 

Instead, it’s an hour-and-50-minute pilot episode of a new series that will air on the Angel Studios platform. 

In fact, at the very end of the flick, this is explained to viewers – who are told that if they “pay it forward,” and donate free tickets for others to use, they’ll gain access to the episodes of the Homestead series that are already in the can. 

To be fair, there’s nothing wrong with using a movie to launch a new series. 

In fact, it’s a fairly novel approach to promotions. 

However, Homestead doesn’t do that. 

The movie serves as a pilot episode because nothing is resolved; it’s left open-ended – in fact, a title screen appears at the end reading, “This is the beginning.”

Homestead disappoints faith-based fans  

Because of this, the film isn’t resonating with viewers. 

Forget that it only has a 38% score from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes – they were never going to like this movie and what do they know anyway? 

More troubling is the 78% popcorn rating from audiences. 

While that number may sound good on the surface, it’s actually a relatively low score coming from people who paid money to see the movie. 

Furthermore, Homestead only has a 5.5 out of 10 score on IMDB — making it tied for the lowest rating of any Angel Studios project. 

With Angel Studios struggling to recapture its Sound of Freedom success, fans might soon start asking the question: 

“Was Sound of Freedom a success because of Angel Studios, or because of Jim Caviezel?”