source: Freetown

Two different cultures are being reflected in the reviews. I loved this movie. But then I also love things of good rapport. It often takes a lover of beauty to recognize and appreciate Beauty.

The story of these brave missionaries is quite inspiring. To be hunted in your own land is something most will fortunately never have to face. You cannot watch this film without feeling your heart break for the tremendous difficulties the people of Liberia had to face during their civil war. Sadly, such hatred, violence, and oppression is still is found in many places around the globe. As I watched this film I kept thinking how grateful I should be for living in a country free from civil war and oppression. We in America should realize how incredibly blessed we are and how much we have to be thankful for that we can go where we want, when we want, without our very lives being threatened.

In 1989 Black Mormons try to leave Liberia, engaged in a civil war. John Gaye (Phillip Adekunle Michael) is of the Krahn tribe being exterminated by the rebels. In a gut retching moment, he scratches out his name on his "Elder Gaye" name tag. The film was rather boring apart from the fact I have seen my first Black Mormon either in real life or on the screen. The civil war provided a background as a group of 6 crammed into a clown car drive through checkpoints preaching the word of God all while wearing white shirts and ties; white shirts that never wrinkle, have sweat stains, or get grass stains, even when you sleep on the grass. Do you have to be Mormon to get one of those? And do they come in different colors? Inspiring, perhaps. But it was not a great action film and is on par with a made for TV "Lifetime" production. Note to self: When attempting to sneak around at night, don't wear a white shirt.

I'd read about "Freetown" somewhere, not sure if it was IMDb, but it was supposed to be a gut-wrenching, heartfelt, inspiring survival film about people fleeing rebels in war-torn Liberia. I was fooled. This movie was nothing more than a 90 minute commercial for the Church of Jesus Christ the Latter Day Saints, typically known as the Mormons. As it turned out, the "heroes" were nothing more than ball=less wonders who were only after saving their own skins than helping out their fellow man. Typical religious crap. This movie wasn't worth the celluloid it was printed on. An absolute miss. If you want to see a good movie about life in conflicted Africa, check out "Touki Bouki" or "War Witch."

First, I'm not a Mormon. I'm not from Africa. I watched this film the other night and while it's not great, it's also not as terrible as some of the bigots on here claim. Yes, this is a religious film, which is why some people hate it. But the film shows the struggles of people during a time of civil war and uncertainty. The acting isn't bad--it's not great, but it isn't bad. I felt the tension was well done, and the story is one that any human being can identify with. Freetown is especially relevant today as many parts of Africa are in conflict. Everyone's worried about what ISIS is going to do, but they don't realize that Boko Haram has been wiping out Christians and Muslims alike and there's hardly a peep in Western media.

This film could have been great but let's itself down almost on purpose in most areas. Although the storyline is based on no-fictional events, which is always a good thing but it is let down with really poor effects and bad acting, proper let down which just adds to what could have been a good production. Effects could have been improved with ketchup and someone who is good at plying dead. The fact that you don't see anything in the way of gory details makes the film lack impact. More was needed today shock and inspire people today lead other away from darkness. Ps the fact that the young gentleman evades capture by rubbing the name off his badge instead of throwing it away could only add to the suspicions of others not help him in anyway.

I started watching this movie without checking out any reviews and i think that was mistake number 1 because it's quite boring really. I thought I was the only one who felt some type of way about this film. I kept thinking, why can't this Elder Gaye just remove his name tag and tie, fold his shirt and probably not blend in but raise half the suspicion? That's how far into the film i've got. It's been two days... I cannot continue. I have tried, trust me. The potential that the story of Freetown has is huge. There is definitely a story here but, it's not told well. The producers could have found better actors, better script writers, better everything really. It is, as other reviewers have said, a total waste of time.

I'm a Mormon, and that definitely contributes to my love of this film, but is hardly the only factor (Mormon films that I don't particularly like include "The Singles' Ward", "Church Ball", "Passage to Zarahemla", and "The Book of Mormon Movie"). I was not told to watch this by my church leaders, as some have cynically suggested - it is an independent film and the LDS Church had no involvement or stance on it at all. I watched a free special premiere screening and enjoyed it so much that I watched it twice more to support the filmmakers. The film doesn't showcase much of the scope or background of the Liberian Civil War, but instead focuses on the experience of a handful of people trying to escape from it. Although these people are Mormons, and the film is targeted primarily at Mormons, the film's faith-affirming message is broad enough to appeal to believers of all stripes. More skeptical or atheistic people probably won't find it as appealing, which may partially explain why it was nominated for nine or ten Ghana Movie Awards but received many lukewarm or negative reviews in the U.S. Despite the missionaries' highly visible name tags, the film says little about specifically Mormon doctrine or practice, but preaches a generic message of hope and faith through adversity. I found it to have a good mix of tension and humor that held my interest throughout. Some people say it's boring, and we'll just have to agree to disagree. Some have complained that graphic violence isn't actually shown on screen; I think this is a tasteful "less is more" approach that most modern filmmakers have sadly abandoned altogether in favor of shock value. I felt that the humor was used sparingly and wisely; it's not a hilarious movie by any means, but has some smile-worthy moments to reduce the tension. We don't learn much about the individual missionaries' backstories or motivations but their interactions with each other bring them to life as real, young, sometimes naive but goodhearted people. And of course the soundtrack, particularly the opening sequence and the recurring vocals, is phenomenal. This was filmed in West Africa with almost exclusively West African actors - specifically Ghana, since the Ebola epidemic prevented them from filming on location. This is a unique and good move both for LDS and American films as a whole. It is, of course, based on a true story - which placed a lot of constraints on what liberties could be taken with the plot that some have derided - but it's one of those rare times when a film adaptation of necessity becomes *less* incredible than the reality. In the film, there are only seven people in the car, so as to fit the camera; in reality there were nine. In the film, they need to pass through three rebel checkpoints; in reality there were about fifty. If you're not Mormon, I can't promise you'll enjoy this movie as much as I do, but if you're not anti-religious messages I encourage you to give it a shot.