The Forge is the ninth film produced by the Christian movie duo of brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick. It is also the first Kendrick Brothers film that utilizes characters from one of their previous films (War Room), making it a bona fide spin-off, and the production company’s first (obvious) step in creating a larger cinematic universe. If you’re a casual fan of the Kendrick films, you may not notice this, as they are notorious for shuffling a familiar collection of the same actors into different roles in each film. Mega fans on the other hand will quickly identify in The Forge the prayer warrior, Miss Clara from War Room, played by Karen Abercrombie.

The story of the Forge centers on Isaiah Wright (Aspen Kennedy), a young man who has lost himself in a world of basketball and video games in order to drowned out the trauma of losing his father to the tragedies of divorce and abandonment. His mother, Cynthia is played aptly by Priscilla Shirer, who pulls double duty in this film by also appearing as Cynthia’s twin sister, who happens to be Shirer’s character from War Room, Elizabeth Jordan. Consequently, Elizabeth’s husband Tony (T.C. Stallings) appears in a peripheral role as a member of The Forge, which is a group of men and the younger men they mentor toward a biblical understanding of manhood. Alena Pitts also reprises her War Room role of the Jordans’ daughter, Danielle in what amounts to a very brief cameo appearance, rounding out the cast of crossover characters from that previous film.

As you may expect from a Kendrick film, this story is about how Isaiah rises out of his funk by coming to Christ and being mentored by older men about what it means to be a man of God. Overall, this movie has an inspiring story with a very important message. It was an easy watch, well produced and emotionally satisfying. If I am to give The Forge an honest critique though, I must point out Aspen Kennedy’s somewhat wooden performance as Isaiah. While Kennedy is a talented actor with a boatload of potential, his work in The Forge was far from polished. But then, when it comes to scenes where the players are responding to a spiritual awakening such as salvation or engaging in prayer for an important need, the portrayals of even the more seasoned performers like Shirer and Abercrombie come off as forced, and even a bit trite. But to be fair, this seems to be a consistent trait of most Christian films.

That being said, what The Forge has going for it far outweighs its flaws. As with every Kendrick film since Facing the Giants (2006), the production values of The Forge are next level for the Kendrick Brothers, on par with those of any mid-budget Hollywood offering. The orchestral score, while not as impressive as those of Facing the Giants (2006) or Courageous (2011), was more emotionally moving than Fireproof (2008) and more memorable than War Room (2015). As for the acting, Cameron Arnett gets the gold star for his performance as Joshua, the leader of the men’s group and Isaiah’s employer and mentor. His authentic delivery of biblical truth was real and believable in a way that was more personal than preachy. And his expressions of love, loss and growth were powerful and penetrating.

The one area where I felt the Kendricks and their cast outdid themselves in a way that outshined any of their previous outings was in the way the gospel was presented. This again is a nod (at least in part) to Arnett’s mastery of delivering the lines of what might otherwise be considered a sermon in a way that lands as a genuine appeal to the listener rather than preaching. Props to the Kendricks’ writing as well that presented the gospel message in a nurturing build-up to a believable conversion as opposed to a cliched, mechanical repeated prayer translated in “Christianese”.

The Forge challenged me as a Christian man and as a father to take a second look at the example I’m setting for younger men and particularly my own son. It forced me to ask myself the tough questions of how I am influencing the next generation of men for Christ and how can I grow past my failures in that realm. The Forge is currently playing only in theaters and looks to be leaving most of them this week.