disappointment media
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About

THE LADY OF HEAVEN -- A Noble but Shoddy Faith-Based Epic

12/10/2021

0 Comments

 
Review by Sean Boelman
Picture
Every year, especially around the holidays, there is a deluge of Christian faith-based dramas, a majority of which are nearly if not entirely insufferable. There aren’t as many films based on other religions, and so The Lady of Heaven is unique in that regard, but it isn’t unique in that it’s just as maudlin as its Abrahamic cousin’s counterparts.

The movie tells the story of Lady Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, and the tremendous backlash she faced when her husband Ali is named the successor of the Prophet. However, the framing device of the story, following a young boy whose mother is murdered by violent terrorists, is what moves this from bland historical drama to emotionally cheap sermon.

One of the most frustrating things about the film is that it doesn’t seem to know its audience. Muslim audiences who are old enough to see the movie (it is rated R due to an extreme amount of blood and violence) will already know this story, and non-Muslim audiences may be off-put by the didacticism.

It’s a shame, because the message of the film is undeniably a good one, regardless of what creed one comes from. There are a lot of assumptions made about people of the Islamic faith, and this movie sets out to disprove a lot of those misconceptions. It means well, but ultimately, those who need to hear it the most aren’t going to be those who are going to hear it.
Picture
The pacing of the film is also pretty insane. There are massive, bloody battle sequences spread throughout that imply that the filmmaker’s don’t trust the audience to be invested in the story otherwise. Yet even though the movie has a lot of action in it, it manages to feel extremely dull nevertheless.

Something that is really interesting about the film’s execution is that, in accordance with the Islamic faith, no one actor or actress can play a holy figure. And as such, a majority of the movie is shot with creative tactics to avoid this issue. The rest of the cast is not impressive, though, delivering the mediocre dialogue in a stilted way.

From a technical level, the film isn't all that strong. It’s clear that the budget isn’t as large as that of a mainstream historical epic, resulting in a lot of scenes feeling like cheap reenactments rather than the large-scale spic this is trying to be. The movie also does some of the cheaply emotional tricks that you’d expect from a religious film like this.

The Lady of Heaven is a noble attempt at making something different in terms of the religious movies, but it falls victim to a lot of the traps of the genre. The message is expectedly well-intentioned, even if the film does struggle to get it across.

The Lady of Heaven is now in theaters.

Rating: 2/5
               
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019

    Authors

    All
    Adam Donato
    Alan French
    Allison Brown
    Borja Izuzquiz
    Camden Ferrell
    Cole Groth
    Daniel Lima
    Dan Skip Allen
    Erin M. Brady
    Jonathan Berk
    Joseph Fayed
    Josh Batchelder
    Paris Jade
    Rafael Motamayor
    Sarah Williams
    Sean Boelman
    Tatiana Miranda

disappointment media

Dedicated to unique and diverse perspectives on cinema!
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • The Snake Hole
  • About