THE FORGE

Yes — and bring the family. THE FORGE tells a simple, needed story: a lazy, video-game-addicted young man gets forced into a job, meets a Christian boss willing to actually mentor him, and lets that mentorship reshape his life. It's the kind of on-screen discipleship the church talks about far more than it shows.

The first act is slower than it should be, weighed down by dialogue that sits rather than moves. But once real jeopardy enters the story, the film picks up, and it closes with an ending that's both entertaining and genuinely moving — one that lands a clear presentation of the Gospel without feeling forced.

There's nothing here to steer families away from. No violence, no sex, no nudity, no language, nothing to weigh against the good. The only cost is patience through a slow opening. Bottom line: this one is worth your time, and worth watching together.

Isaiah is nineteen, addicted to video games, disrespectful to authority, and going nowhere — just like his father before him, his mother points out. When she forces him to get a job, he lands at Moore Fitness, run by a Christian man named Joshua. Joshua doesn't just want an employee. He wants to mentor Isaiah into becoming a good man. What happens next is where the film really begins.

Three stars means this one earns real credit, with a caveat. The opening act drags — too much static dialogue, not enough momentum — and viewers should go in ready for a slow warm-up. But once the story's jeopardy kicks in, the pacing tightens, and the film builds to a genuinely powerful, entertaining, redemptive ending that a great closing stretch can make audiences forgive a shaky start for. The cast is deep with talented actors carrying the message. It's not a polished four-star film from start to finish, but it finishes strong enough to matter.

This is a film that knows exactly what it believes, and says so plainly. It carries a clear presentation of the Gospel, tied directly to Isaiah's arc of surrendering his life to God — captured in his refrain, "Either you are Lord or you're not." Around that center, the film builds out real biblical instruction: it shows prayer changing hearts, names anger's poisonous effect, and calls believers toward sacrifice, responsibility, determination, and forgiveness.

Its most valuable contribution may be its picture of discipleship itself. The church talks often about the need to mentor the next generation; this film dramatizes it, showing what it costs an older believer to invest in a younger one, and what it gives back. Isaiah's absent father makes God's fatherhood — patient, present, guiding — land with real weight rather than as an abstraction.

There is nothing here to counter, only to commend. The film's underlying longing is the same one Scripture names for every believer: that the mature disciple the young are made for, and older saints are made to build. "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17).

THE FORGE stumbles a little out of the gate, but it finds its stride and lands a genuinely moving, gospel-centered ending — the kind of story that can spark real conversation about mentorship, prayer, and what it means to actually follow Christ. Our answer is simple: worth the trip — all ages.