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A THEATER NEAR YOU — A few months ago, we had “Freetown” director Garrett Batty on the Flix Junkies podcast, and let me start this off by saying he was a super interesting guy to chat with.
Batty really is a credit to local filmmakers, and from that perspective, I could’ve chatted with him all day about his vision for “Freetown” and the logistics of filming internationally and any number of details surrounding what he’s trying to accomplish here in Utah.
But if you’ve ever listened to the podcast, you might have come away with the idea that I’m perhaps the least spiritual regular on the show. And, if we’re being honest, you really wouldn’t be wrong. So as we continued our conversation, I asked Batty — and I’m paraphrasing here — “Is 'Freetown' a movie aimed directly at Latter-day Saint members?”
Batty was happy to address the question and pointed out that while “Freetown” is in fact about Mormon missionaries, at its heart, the story taps into universal themes that really transcend any one audience. Did I believe him? I wanted to. But at the end of the day, I felt it might be appropriate to bring a few guests with me to the press screening. The movie starts showing Wednesday in theaters throughout Utah.
The story
“Freetown” is based on true events, following a group of LDS missionaries during the second Liberian Civil War. Originally hoping to continue their proselyting efforts, the six missionaries are forced to escape war-torn Monrovia in a member’s tiny, petrol-deprived car. At their backs is a rebel fighter obsessed with capturing and killing one of the missionaries, and ahead of them is a dangerous road deteriorating beneath their tires and continuously blocked by militant checkpoints.
What you’ll like
The guests I brought with me to the screening were a dear friend who happens to be an active member of the LDS faith, his youngest son, and his daughter who just returned from an LDS mission to the Philippines. They loved it. No really, they kind of have a crush on this movie. And no question that there was a lot for them to like.
Juggling a large cast of protagonists is a difficult task, and Batty handles the challenge especially well. Jumping back-and-forth between different sets of missionaries at the beginning, Batty sells the urgency of their situation and is able to set a very dangerous stage for these characters to escape from.
Batty also draws attention to church members the missionaries are leaving behind, casting a real sense of sadness for the battles they’ll be left to endure alone. This is brought home in large part because of the work of Nuong Faalong, who plays a recent convert trying to help the missionaries begin their journey.
What you won’t like
It’s easy to heap praises onto “Freetown’s” opening chapters, but unfortunately, the story loses its way when the missionaries hit the road.
If I were to guess, and I admit I might be totally wrong here, I imagine the opening scenes of the film were where Batty and his crew had most of their real-life material to draw from. As the story goes from individuals trying to maintain their faith to something of a quirky road trip, audiences might wish the story never left Monrovia.
Continuing to jump back and forth between the missionaries and Faalong’s character, Akatika, could’ve gone a long way in breaking up the somewhat cartoony narrative “Freetown” takes on in its second half.
The verdict
Batty was definitely correct when he said there is more here than just a rallying cry for the home team. LDS members who love their history and the stories coming from their current congregations should keep an eye on Batty. He seems to have found that difficult balance between respecting source material and including topics relevant to trending conversations.
That said, the decision to ultimately make “Freetown” a road trip movie is one audiences may shrug at and possibly tire of as the movie progresses. But overall, there are too many things right with “Freetown” to not recommend it as a great choice for the moviegoers this weekend.
Travis Poppleton has been covering movie news, film reviews and live events for Deseret News and KSL.com since 2010 and co-hosts the FlixJunkies podcast. You can contact him at tspoppleton@gmail.com.
