Great American Pure Flix's 'Birthright Outlaw' brings faith, family to Old West in tale of redemption
“Birthright Outlaw” blends the action of old-time Western movies with faith themes to highlight the power and possibility of redemption — even in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges, according to director Aaron Burns.
Currently streaming on Great American Pure Flix, “Birthright Outlaw” follows the Rev. Jeremiah Jacobs and his wife, Martha Rose, whose lives are upended when their daughter, Hope, is kidnapped.
“Family secrets unravel as Martha reveals the kidnapper is her father, “The King of Hearts,” and his feared House Gang. Devastated and desperate, they must come together and risk it all to find Hope,” reads the film's description.
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The film, which stars "Fast & Furious" franchise star Lucas Black and Sarah Drew, is rated PG-13 for some adult themes and violence.
In an interview with The Christian Post, Burns described the film as combining a pastor’s family with the rugged landscape of the Old West to explore the themes of family, marriage and redemption.
“Our first hope is that everyone who watches it is entertained and just has a great time watching a movie and going on an adventure to a faraway place and a faraway time,” Burns said.
“But then, of course, as storytellers, we desire that people connect it with our own stories and journeys. At the end of the film, someone shares a passage of Scripture, 2 Corinthians 5: 'The old has gone, the new has come.' And that's an idea, for me personally, that appeals every day. We all make mistakes, we all have problems, we all have pasts that we have to deal with, whether those are our time spent with a criminal gang or what you did yesterday afternoon, as you were failing to love your family the way that you should. No matter what our past is, no matter what our failures are, we all have an opportunity for new mercies every morning.”
A father and Christian, Burns set out to make a compelling and entertaining film while adhering to boundaries that would allow families to watch it comfortably. Though an action film, "Birthright Outlaw" is rife with biblical themes, including sacrifice, forgiveness and doing good in the face of evil.
“I think if you're a dad or husband, I think you'd ask that question: if my family was attacked, if my family needed me, what would I do to rise up and try to help them? And we see Lucas' character making that decision to step up in his role as a husband and father and do what it takes to fight for his wife and his family,” Burns said.
“For the kids in the audience, they're watching this little girl find all these new things about her family. She gets taken off on this adventure and ultimately gets rescued back again. Just to appreciate the joy that a family is, and for all of us to first think about the love that our Heavenly Father has for us, and the hope and the joy that He offers us.
There's truly hope for all of us, no matter how dark your situation is … we all are in need of help, and we're all in need of a fresh start and someone to show us love and mercy and grace.”
In June, Great American Media merged with Sony’s subscription streaming outfit Pure Flix and was subsequently renamed Great American Pure Flix. The streaming platform is billed as being “home to the best in family and faith entertainment.”
The streaming platform recently released its list of Christmas movies featuring talent including Candace Cameron Bure, who also serves as chief creative officer with Great American Media, Lori Loughlin, Danica McKellar, Trevor Donovan and Jen Lilley.
Great American Pure Flix CEO Bill Abbott made headlines in 2020 after stepping down from his role as CEO of Crown Media Family Networks, the parent company of Hallmark, after the company announced it would make a concentrated effort to produce "projects featuring LGBTQ storylines, characters, and actors." In December, Hallmark released its first movie featuring a same-sex couple.
"We will be the leader in faith and family content, both in streaming and in linear," Abbott told CP.
"When you think streaming, you think Netflix. When you think faith and family content, you'll think Great American Media, Great American Pure Flix; Great American as a brand that represents a high quality, that represents that focus on faith and family, that never disappoints."
Abbott also expressed his commitment to producing high-quality content that consistently meets the expectations of its audience.
"Most faith or family services that are out there will cut around the margins or make excuses for why something may make sense or put something on that might not be at the level of standard in which they want to live up to for economic reasons or for convenience sake, and we will never do that," he said.
"We are personally dedicated to making sure that everything really meets a certain standard and makes sense and is not going to disappoint any of our viewers in terms of the way they feel about our brand or content."
And according to Burns, “Birthright Outlaw” is part of fulfilling Great American Pure Flix’s commitment to excellence.
“As time has gone on, the investments, the budgets that people are willing to put behind [clean movies] and finding people who can tell good stories … is better,” he said. “To see across the board, movies that would appeal to a family audience increasing in quality over the last decade is very exciting because I love making movies. I love telling stories, but also, I love watching them. So to have things that we can share with our kids and our families is a joy."
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
