Top 10 free movies from RedeemTV
Redeem TV is a free Christian streaming service with hundreds and hundreds of films. While a lot of it is older content that's quite middling by today's expectations, they do have some shows, movies, and documentaries that are sure to appeal. What follows is a Top 10 list of their very best.
For longer reviews, including age appropriateness and any cautions, be sure to click on the title. While the service is free, to use it you will have to sign up for an account. You can do so at RedeemTV.com.
Hidden Blessings
Drama / Christian
2024 / 107 min
Rating: 8/10
Gregory Davidson is kind of like Willy Wonka of chocolate factory fame. Both men are creative artists, with Davidson being the painter behind the series of “Hidden Blessings” canvases that were so popular not so long ago. Like Willy Wonka, he stepped away from the public eye entirely, even as everyone was dying to get a glimpse in to his “factory” to see how the product is made.
Now, for the very first time Davidson has invited a documentarian into his house, a young filmmaker, Lydia Drake, who contacted Davidson about a painting gifted to her in her mom’s will. The canvas had Davidson’s signature, so, she was initially only hoping to find out if the painting was genuine. But then the two started texting back and forth and, eventually, Davidson put out the invite to do a documentary on his work.
Like Wonka, Davidson is a quirky, frantic, oddball, bouncing across the room, breaking into song, doing impressions. He is quite the character, and you’ll want to get to know him.
This is an incredibly creative film.
Sue Thomas F.B.Eye
Drama / TV series
41 min / 57 episodes / 2002-2005
Rating: 8/10
Based on the real life of deaf F.B.I. agent Sue Thomas, it combines the intrigue of police investigations with the unique comic pairing of the courageous but somewhat naive Sue and her lovable but not-always-so-well-behaved hearing dog Levi. The shows are generally tame, but not lame: a Christian series where the acting might not be Oscar-worthy, but is never cringe-worthy either.
The very first episode had one unpleasant cop getting caught by Sue two-timing on his girlfriend (she could lip-read across the room what he was saying). That made it too "adult" for my under tens to view, but this is pretty tame otherwise, and suitable for teens and up.
Final Solution
Drama
102 min / 2001
Rating: 8/10
This is the true story of Gerrit Wolfaardt, a church-going, Mein Kampf-reading young man who was taught from the pulpit that white South Africans were God’s new chosen people. And the nation’s blacks? Gerrit saw their existence as a problem that could be solved with some inspiration from Hitler. He offers up his own diabolical “final solution”: if black townships could just be stirred to violence, that could be used as the excuse for the white government to come in force and wipe them all out.
And then God uses a girl, and a black pastor, to break him down completely.
This is first and foremost the story Gerrit’s transformation, but it's also the story of how a black pastor can befriend the man who wanted to kill him. One man repented, but reconciliation wouldn’t have been possible without forgiveness being given.
Flight: the Genius of Birds
Documentary
63 min / 2013
Rating: 9/10
When I watched this with my three-year-old daughter we had the exact same reaction: “Wow!” Flight takes a look at the design of birds and focuses particularly on hummingbirds, starlings, and arctic terns and all three have their wow moments.
And if you enjoyed it, there are two others, by the same producer, that are every bit as cool. Metamorphosis: the Beauty and Design of Butterflies explores how, even as beauty is not essential to the survival of creatures, God has conferred it on so many creatures (and on nature in general). Magnetic resonance imaging of caterpillars as they become butterflies complement stunning video shot in Ecuador’s rain forests, in Mexico’s transvolcanic mountains, and in the north-central US and southern Ontario.
Living Waters: Intelligent Design in the Oceans of the Earth is one part nature documentary and one part evolutionary takedown. Illustra Media understands that a great way to expose evolution is to take a close in-depth look at some of the creatures that God has made, like dolphins, sea turtles, Pacific salmon, and humpback whales. My preschool children weren’t always able to follow the discussion, but the close-up videos and computer animations kept their attention. Meanwhile, their mom and I were stunned by the sheer brilliance and creativity of our God!
Sabina
Drama
115 min / 2022
Rating: 7/10
Sabina and Richard Wurmbrand went on to start Voice of the Martyrs (VOM), a group that helps the persecuted Church around the world. But before they began VOM, they were persecuted themselves. Their life story has been told in two films now, the first about Richard, called Tortured for Christ (also available at RedeemTV), and now this one, about Sabina, and how she was able to forgive the Nazis that killed so many of her Jewish family.
Freedom
Drama
94 min / 2014
Rating: 7/10
Like many a film “inspired by true events,” this isn’t good history but it is pretty decent cinema. Freedom is really two stories in one, the first loosely based on the life of John Newton. He’s the author of the hymn “Amazing Grace” and while the film gets the broad details of his life right – he was the captain of a slave trade ship, he did have an encounter with God on his ship, and he did turn his back on the slave trade – the timeline of those events has been greatly compacted. In real life, his rejection of the slave trade was a gradual shift over years and even decades, while in the film it seems more a matter of weeks.
The second story takes place 100 years later, and is a fictional account of a family of slaves fleeing Virginia via the Underground Railroad. Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as the father, Samuel.
Wings of an Eagle - A Musician's Journey into America
Documentary
98 min / 2017
Rating: 8/10
Winnipeg’s favorite singer-songwriter Steve Bell gets his own documentary. Bell’s been a traveling man for decades, crisscrossing the country, doing thousands of gigs, winning a couple of Junos, and even performing with symphonies across Canada. He’s also headed south regularly and traveled the world. But he’s never really “made it big.” This is the story of both his contentment with the success God has given him, and the many friends who, encouraged by his music, want him to reach that larger audience and are doing what they can to help.
Forever Strong
Drama
109 min / 2008
Rating: 7/10
This one begins with a fall from grace: teen rugby star Rick Penning crashes his car, injuring his girlfriend, and gets sent to juvenile detention for his second DUI. He also loses the affection of his rugby coach father who only seems able to relate to his son as a coach and not as a dad. Even behind bars Rick is hardly repentant. A prison chaplain of sorts starts setting him right by, first, having him scrub a lot of latrines and, second, by introducing him to a very special rugby coach. Larry Gelwix's Highland club has won the US nationals 15 of the last 20 years, but as he puts it, he's more about creating championship boys, than winning championships. It's a sports movie, and we all know he's going to eventually change things completely around, but it has enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. Parents should be aware that as part of his bad-boy life, there are scenes of partying with brief shots of bare-chested guys and bikini-clad girls.
Ryan Defrates: Secret Agent
Animated
29 min / 12 episodes / 2017-2018
Rating: 7/10
These are the animated adventures of a secret agent... and his mom. Ryan is new to the spy game, and while he has a lot to learn what's really holding him back is that he's not so good at listening to others, including his mom. Hijinks ensue. I will note that while our kids enjoyed every episode that we watched, my wife and I found that a little Defrates was better than a lot of it. The way he ignores others' advice gets a bit annoying after a half dozen episodes.
An interesting bonus: you can watch these with Dutch subtitles on.
Never Give Up
Family / Sports
2023 / 79 minutes
RATING: 6/10
This is great family viewing for the peek it offers into the very different world of the deaf. Never Give Up is the true story of Brad Minns, left deaf by a high fever at the age of three, back in 1968. His parents made the unusual decision at that time, to teach Minns to lip-read and have him try to take on the challenge of a regular school, instead of going to a deaf institution.
While his classmates and even his teacher aren't all that welcoming, the game of tennis becomes an outlet and a refuge. Here his hearing loss doesn't make him all that different. It's still not an even playing field – deaf players can't hear how the ball sounds coming off their opponent's racket – but as Minn's first instructor tells him, he can use his eyes and his heart to make up the difference. When Minns beats his big brother, he starts realizing he could become great at this.
Some uneven acting relegates this to a 6, but it was a 6 that our whole family enjoyed!
Others
If you do sign up with RedeemTV.com you may also want to check out some of these that are also available there (click on the title for reviews):
DRAMAS: Vow to Cherish / The Gospel Blimp / Martin Luther (1953) / John Hus: A Journey of No Return
CHILDREN: Patterns of Evidence: Young Explorers / Storm / The Defense of New Haven / The Runner from Ravenshead / Torchlighters
DOCUMENTARIES: Captivated / Rescued / The Reckoning / Hidden Heroes / Making Choices / How Should We Then Live? / Whatever Happened to the Human Race? / C.S. Lewis Onstage
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