Audience of One

Even the greatest filmmakers need a high capacity for self-delusion, but it’s one thing to dream big and another to assume that God will save you from production delays. Praying for a miracle is basically the only strategy of Pastor Richard Gazowsky, a Pentecostal preacher from San Francisco who sets out to direct a big-budget Christian epic—a 65mm, futuristic version of the Joseph story that he describes as “Star Wars meets The Ten Commandments.” This not-unsympathetic documentary takes its time clarifying its loyalties, hinting that these true-believing Ed Woods might actually pull it off. But as debt piles up, it becomes clear that the film’s true subject is the dangerously empowering nature of fanaticism.  It’s a shame: Gravity: The Shadow of Joseph looked promising.