Originally published in The Christian Post
A new faith-based film revisiting the spiritual awakening of the 1970s is aiming to spark fresh conversations about revival, church unity and the future of Christian media.
Jesus Freaks – the Movie, directed by Nina May and starring Kevin Sorbo and Sam Sorbo, tells the true story of a young couple whose lives are transformed during the Jesus Movement, this time set not in California, but on the East Coast in Florida. The film is now airing on Faith Channel, a growing streaming platform focused on faith-based and values-driven content.
Sorbo said the story’s themes of spiritual searching and cultural disillusionment resonate strongly with today’s audiences, even decades after the Jesus Revolution.
“I think people are searching,” the 67-year-old Hercules actor told The Christian Post during a sit-down interview at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention. “People are reaching that rock bottom –they’re going, ‘There’s got to be something better than this.’”
Sorbo pointed to younger generations in particular, especially those who came of age during the Covid-19 pandemic, as part of a growing spiritual shift.
“There’s that group like 18- to 25-year-olds right now that’s saying, ‘We were lied to — there’s got to be a better thing and a better place to go,’” he said. “They’re very dissatisfied. They were promised the American dream. It’s not within their reach.”
The film follows a young woman’s journey to faith in 1972, exploring the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the tensions that arise when personal spiritual experiences clash with institutional skepticism. According to the film’s creators, one of its central conflicts, a pastor dismissing spiritual gifts, is meant to challenge viewers to consider how faith is expressed and received within the Church.
“It does kind of challenge you to think a little bit outside the box,” said Chip Rossetti, director of content acquisition and distribution for Faith Channel. “We don’t want to just keep putting movies out there that placate the Church. We want to put movies out there that challenge.”
Rossetti said that emphasis was a key reason Faith Channel chose to distribute Jesus Freaks, describing it as distinct from more traditional faith-based films.
“We’re trying to find things that are different,” he said. “People need to see it.”
Faith Channel, a hybrid between platforms like YouTube and subscription-based services, offers free, curated content designed to provide a safe viewing environment while giving creators more freedom, according to Rossetti.
“The idea is that it’s a place you can go — you don’t have to log in, you don’t have to pay anything,” he said. “But we curate it so families don’t have to worry about what they’re seeing.”
The platform, still in its early growth phase, aims to expand its library with films that push beyond what Rossetti called “in-the-box” storytelling often associated with Christian entertainment.
“We don’t want to be the Christian Hallmark Channel,” he said. “We want to be very diverse and broad in the offerings that we have.”
Sorbo, known for his outspoken views on Hollywood and faith, said he hopes projects like Jesus Freaks will encourage churches to take a more active role in supporting faith-based media.
“People want to know what’s really true,” he said. “The lies they keep throwing at us — through public education, universities, through mainstream media and through Hollywood — they just bombard you.”
“The church body … should be working together to promote the kind of content that we should all be looking at,” Sorbo said. “Promote every faith-based movie out there.”
He also argued that demand from audiences could influence the broader entertainment industry, pointing to the success of God’s Not Dead, which starred Sorbo and grossed over $60 million on a $2 million budget.
“If they saw that kind of return … they would make more of them in a heartbeat,” Sorbo said.
Both Sorbo and Rossetti emphasised that Jesus Freaks is part of a broader effort to revisit a pivotal moment in American spiritual history and to ask whether a similar movement could happen again.
“It’s a spiritual journey,” Rossett said. “People want to know what’s really true.”
Jesus Freaks follows the success of Jon and Andy Erwin’s 2023 film Jesus Revolution, which grossed over $50 million. The film tells the true story of Greg Laurie and the revival that began in hippie communities on the West Coast in the late 1960s, eventually spreading across the country and bringing millions of souls to Christ.
Laurie, who today pastors Harvest Christian Fellowship, told CP at the time he hoped the film would provide hope to today’s lost and searching generation, not unlike the climate he grew up in.
“It’s a true story; it’s a relevant story. I think we’re representative of a generation of young people back then that’s very similar to a younger generation, searching for answers now. This generation needs hope, just like our generation needed it.”
Jesus Freaks is available to stream on Faith Channel.
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