Come Sunday is a 2018 drama about an evangelist who is ostracized by his church for preaching that there is no Hell.
Many of you might already be familiar with Carlton Pearson, an evangelical minister who gained fame in Tulsa at the Higher Dimensions Family Church, featured in a 2005 episode of This American Life called ‘Heretics‘. That three part expose detailed much about the man’s struggle, influence and eventual downfall for his progressive preaching. Joshua Marston‘s newest film Come Sunday is a far less in-depth revisit, skimming along without much of the emotional impact something like this needs, despite some genuinely impassioned performances.
On a plane heading for Tulsa, Carlton Pearson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) sits beside a young woman, an unnamed lawyer (Allie McCulloch), with the unlikely duo settling into a rather vulnerable conversation that proves the preacher is a man of great empathy and sway, soon saving the woman from enteral damnation. This inspires him in a sermon directly after, where he holds incredible power over a huge congregation of blacks and whites, including the church’s manager, Henry (Jason Segel). We discover over the next few sermons, the production is not only bound by its faith, but also its commerce, the presentation as important as the words. However, even as Carlton seems on the rise to great fame, things begin to splinter when a relative (Danny Glover) seeks his power to resolve a personal problem, leading to a devastating choice, and then, when Pearson can’t find reason behind a god that can allow acts of terrible suffering the world, decides that there can be no Hell, and more so, that God told him so. This is the beginning of the end.
It’s no secret that what follows sees Pearson declared a heretic. The film tracks that descent, the man convinced of his new-found belief, the story centered on his convictions and the deterioration of his preaching. Ejiofor embraces the role with terrific energy, early moments seeing him motivated by his influence on stage, wanting to reach out to more, unmoved by concerns from Henry about budgets and his wife Gina’s (Condola Rashad) criticism of much behind the scenes. When he sees on television genocidal horrors in Africa, he can’t justify a God that would let countless die without being saved, and speaks of this in a sermon. The aftermath sees a community in uproar, their once cherished moral councilor seemingly abandoning 2000 years of established religious doctrine.
The film is limited by its narrow scope though, deciding to put its efforts into a singular direction, putting only superficial weight to subplots of homosexuality and Henry’s parallels with Carlton. Henry specifically is positioned as the voice of opposition but is underdeveloped even as Segel does some great work in charging the character with a righteous arm. As Carlton’s message spreads, it spins much into chaos with Pearson struggling with his crisis of faith, the effects of which cut a wide swatch, and these moments often give the film some solid emotional punch, though the film isn’t able to sustain it as it lays a path to expected battles of conviction that are left mostly deflated.
There’s a lot to Come Sunday that is earnest and sprinkles its message with enough devotion and respect to give it some matter, even as it lacks the larger momentum to truly lift this where it should. It might and should instill some interest to learn more but as it avoids really taking a stand and offering a more sturdy statement about what and who Pearson is, the film ends up washed out. However, look for good turns by Martin Sheen, Lakeith Stanfield, and Danny Glover who all deliver small but impactful performances.