BETWEEN THE WALLS

3 Stars – THOUGHT-PROVOKING

The analogical purpose of Chris Staron’s “Between the Walls” is obvious:  Many feel as though God is an intrusive deity who like a sick father, “listens in” on our lives and records our sins to use them against us.  That anyone would find this repulsive is just as obvious and is well documented within the film.  But that this is not the God of the Bible is not as obvious, because many who are not Christians (and some who are), misunderstand the true nature of the eternal Father who loves and cares for us.

Set within MidAmerica, the central character of the film is Peter King, Jr. (Patrick Midgley).  Peter has come back to his childhood home because the bank is about to foreclose and, though his mother is alive, he is the only child so he must remove its contents.

Married to his childhood sweetheart, Linda (Dorothy Savage) and blessed with an inquisitive daughter, Peter regresses into a panicked anger when his daughter attempts to open the basement door to his father’s forbidden room.  Encouraged by Linda and his childhood friend Ryan Connolly (Eli Jared) to overcome his fear and anger, Peter unlocks the door to discover years of audio tapes and imbedded microphones in every room of the house.

Unnerved by the discovery and realizing that his entire childhood has been recorded by his father in his father’s sick and desperate need to control and discipline his namesake, Peter Jr. must now take a journey both into the past and into the future. 

Using the tapes as auditory and visual reenactments of his past, Peter is able to both hear and see what he experienced as the son of Peter King, Sr. (Scott Davis). What makes this journey all the more complex is that his father used his distorted Christianity and invoked a demanding, perfectionistic god to inflict an abusive and intrusive presence in Peter Jr.’s life.

This is where the film both excels and struggles.  Using Ryan’s desire to bring Peter into authentic Christian faith, the film attempts to show Ryan as a bungling witness of Jesus Christ.  Overly pushy, scripture quoting and obviously uncomfortable, it is hard to imagine Peter actually responding to him.  Recognizing that most people are not articulate in their actual attempts to express their faith to family and friends, the film would have been stronger to make these interactions less obvious and more natural.  In an attempt to bring authenticity into the process, the film lacks the power that scripted communication can represent in cinema.  Though everyone knows real people don’t speak with the wit or wisdom in films, it is an opportunity to see what it looks like if we all had writers spending hours thinking of just the right words to say.

The moment where the film does excel is in its visual solution to the abusive taping his father had done.  Having turned to God and asking for his help to forgive his father, Peter Jr. realizes he must destroy the collection of tapes.  Similar to the moment in counseling when a person makes a fearless inventory of past wrongs we have done and the wrongs done to us and then burns that list to portray symbolic and actual freedom from them, Peter and Ryan set the tapes on fire.  It is both a response to and a catalyst which brings Peter’s healing.

“Behind the Walls” is a film of depth and understanding.  It is an analogy that both repulses and engages.  It is a story through which the truth will resonate for any who have misunderstood the nature of the Living God revealed in the Bible.

 

Discussion:

1. It is easy to imagine an all-knowing deity somehow using our secrets and our infirmities against us.  Have you ever thought of God in that way?  How did your view change?

 

2. The love which Peter has for his wife and children is weakened by his anger toward his father.  How has your ability to love others as an adult been impacted by your relationship with your father?  With your mother?

 

3. People often keep a record of wrongs that others have done to them even though no actual recording device is used.  How do you deal with the tendency you have to keep a record against others?  How do you deal with others when they confront you with their recorded accusations against you?