Plot Summary
Ever since Rebekah’s father died tragically, Rebekah’s mother has not let her do much of anything. Rebekah wants to go with her neighbor Isaac to see the miracle-working man named Jesus, but Rebekah’s mother doesn’t trust anyone. Rebekah is only left to listen to her blind grandfather’s stories about being an innkeeper with no room for a young pregnant couple from Bethlehem. One day, Rebekah finally gets her chance to meet Jesus and her life is changed forever.
Production Quality (2 points)
He Knows My Name demonstrates production improvement over No Ordinary Shepherd. There is still some odd lighting in some scenes, the sets, locations, and props are all very high quality, especially the realistic locations. Likewise, video quality and camera work also demonstrate high quality, along with the audio quality and soundtrack. There are really only some minor production errors to address here which typically pertain to some editing concerns. The presence of one too many lagging scenes raises some small issues, but it’s not enough to derail this production. Improvement is what we look for across time, and this film shows it.
Plot and Storyline Quality (1 point)
Again, we wonder if the plots of No Ordinary Shepherd and He Knows My Name could have been combined somehow, yet this film clearly has a good message and effort behind it. This second installment is more well-thought-out than the first as the characters are slightly more accessible and less lofty than before. However, the portrayal of Jesus has still not improved as he seems like a character on another plain of thought from the others. The dialogue, especially Jesus’, still tends to be a bit archaic and isolating, but there are better attempts here. Overall, this seems like a more true-to-life story than the first, and it shows a continued effort to improve, which is all we can ask for.
Acting Quality (2 points)
The acting also shows improvement, even though the cast members are still completely culturally authentic. Yet the realistic costuming is still present and the cast members appear to be more well-coached than before. There are some small trip ups pertaining to theatrics, but on the whole, this upward trend is encouraging to see.
Conclusion
In many ways, this unofficial short film series plays out more like a miniseries should. This why I have to wonder if it would do better in a miniseries format rather than a short film format. Miniseries’ certainly receive more attention than short films. Besides, we really don’t have a notable Bible miniseries on the market. With the advent of more streaming service options, there is really no reason why we don’t have more series’ like this. Perhaps one day we will.
Final Rating: 5 out of 10 points
Box Office Revolution 