YOUNG BELIEVERS
An earnest Christian drama about friendship, faith, and overcoming temptation.
Should You Watch It?
Young Believers is a sincere, compelling drama about four Christian friends who promise in eighth grade to live for Christ through high school. The production has shaky camera movements, hard-to-hear dialogue, and some unnecessarily long scenes. Still, the story draws you into the characters’ choices and keeps you wondering how they will respond when their friends are not around.
The movie addresses alcohol, sex, worldly music, pride, vanity, family struggles, and sexual pressure. It also emphasizes wise choices, prayer, forgiveness, friendship, evangelism, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Scripture, godly friends, and adults repeatedly point the characters back to the Bible.
If you are choosing for teenagers or adults, this earnest Christian drama is worth seeing despite its technical flaws.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESIn eighth grade, Luke, David, Leah, and Delilah make a pact to live for Christ through senior high school. They promise not to drink, use drugs, or have sex before marriage, and to listen only to Christian music.
As the friends grow older, keeping those promises becomes increasingly difficult. Each faces different pressures involving family, relationships, alcohol, drugs, music, pride, and vanity. Their friendship—and their faith—are tested along the way.
Is It Any Good?
Three stars means Young Believers is a worthwhile but technically uneven film. The story is compelling enough to pull viewers into the characters’ decisions, and one creative sequence uses black-and-white handheld camerawork as Delilah runs away disoriented from a would-be rapist.
The shots are generally well composed, but some handheld shots are shaky. Dialogue is too quiet and unclear at times, and a boom microphone or other equipment is briefly visible during a dance studio scene. Some scenes are unnecessarily long.
The Worldview
Young Believers has a strongly Christian, biblical, and moral worldview. It is clear from the beginning that the film intends to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Bible passages are quoted throughout, and conversations with godly friends and adults consistently point the characters back to what God says.
The film exalts wise choices, love, friendship, prayer, forgiveness, evangelism, and faithfulness to Christ. It presents Christianity and the Bible as a positive way to address serious issues teenagers face. It also clearly distinguishes right from wrong and points toward God-honoring choices even after wrong decisions are made.
The movie’s central concern is whether Christian faith can survive temptation. Scripture offers this assurance: “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Very strong Christian, biblical, moral worldview as four friends at a private Christian school go to school and share their faith, with Bible passages quoted throughout the movie; no obscenities or profanities, but a few conversations of crude humor, including two teenage boys bet on a boy having sexual relations with a girl; boy pulls girl to his couch to rape her, but she breaks free and escapes; no depicted sex, but some talk about it and teenage boy tries to force one girl but she escapes; no nudity; no alcohol use, but alcohol shown and offered to a minor, but refused; no smoking but a mention of “weed” or marijuana, and teenage boy crushes a prescription sleeping pill and mixes it into girl’s lemonade to rape her, and she drinks it unknowingly, but she escapes; and, girl argues with friends due to her own pride, vanity, and jealousy, talk of parents divorcing, and teenage boy lies to gain teenage girl’s trust.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
The friends promise to live for Christ through high school. What helps you remain faithful when your friends are not nearby?
1 Corinthians 10:13 · Hebrews 10:24–25The movie presents prayer and godly friendship as ways to face temptation. Who helps point you back to God, and how can you encourage someone else?
Galatians 6:1–2 · 1 Thessalonians 5:11The characters face pressure involving alcohol, sex, drugs, music, pride, and vanity. How can you recognize a choice that honors God before you make it?
Philippians 4:8 · James 1:5The friends argue but learn to forgive and support one another. What does biblical forgiveness look like when trust and friendship have been strained?
Ephesians 4:32 · Colossians 3:13The Final Word
Young Believers is not polished, but its story is compelling and its Christian message is clear. It takes teenage temptations seriously while pointing viewers toward Scripture, prayer, friendship, and the Gospel. For teenagers and adults, the answer is WORTH THE TRIP.
