FoxFaith's Thr3e Released in Theatres

By Kevin Jackson, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Thr3e, a Christian labeled contemporary thriller, was released to theatres this past Friday under the newly founded Christian and family-focused branch of Twentieth Century Fox, Fox-Faith.

Thr3e is based off a book written by Ted Dekker, a Christian author whose books focus on using metaphorical plots to explore faith and religion.

The suspense thriller is about a young seminary student who becomes the target of a psychopathic serial killer. To handle this life threatening dilemma, the student teams up with a criminal psychologist who ironically had his brother murdered by the same villain. With one another’s aid, they begin to solve the riddles of the madman as they try to prevent the killer’s next strike. Yet as they draw closer to catching the murderer, the two men’s path becomes more tangled

On the positive side, the movie does not have any questionable content. The film maker shied away from using profane language, drug use, and sexual content. Even though there are some violent episodes, Thr3e does not show any gory or bloody scenes that are so common in secular thrillers. The movie showed a lot of restraint in these categories and is pretty clean.

Yet, the film has come under critique and controversy from the Christian community. There has been discussion whether or not this film can be classified as being Christian or simply as any other secular horror/thriller flick. The Christian undertones may not be clear enough for the general public.

A review by Plugged In Online made the following analysis: “Without question, viewers can find a thread of the spiritual here, in particular, a focus on the struggle between good and evil. But the serial killer component far outweighs any biblically based theology. So much so that one could easily view this movie as a standard indie thriller, missing entirely the author's and director's oft-stated attempts to convey a Christian worldview.”

The movie has received mixed reviews by other Christian and non-Christian critics as well. It is currently being shown in limited release across America.

Meanwhile, Ted Dekker has also announced a second movie release based off one of his other books, “House.” It will be under the Fox Faith label as well.

On the web: Ted Dekker’s news section and the Fox Faith Movies site.