At the End of the Day

By: Dustin Bradley

Love. That is at the heart of writer/director/producer Kevin O’Brien’s debut film At The End of The Day, an impassioned indie film that has been hailed as a “hug to the LGBT Community  from a post-evangelical filmmaker.” This new movie tackles a Christian’s journey towards “loving the sinner, hate the sin” while calling us to always practice love and never hate, despite what certain churches preach. I just saw the film and I guarantee you will experience a variety of emotions from crying, laughter, getting upset, smiling and most appropriately love. It was a tale that I think is worth every LGBT+ member and allies a like’s attention.

Dave Hopper (Stephen Shane Martin) is a former family counselor that has lost his way ever since his wife left him. He’s now forced to live with his Aunt Patty (Susan Mulholland) where he takes a promising professor job at his alma mater, a growing Christian college, whose new dean (Tom Nowicki) is one of his former professors. The dean hatches a plan to have Dave infiltrate an LGBT+ support group (Danielle Sagona, Emily Davis, Paul Saulo, E. Mani Cadet, Oli Lyons, Jace Greenwood, Betty Jeune, Melissa Malone, and Chris Calvailer) and sabotage their latest project of buying a property for a youth homeless shelter in order to take the land for himself. Dave’s world gets turned all around when he discovers that maybe the LGBT+ community isn’t as awful as the church preaches.

This film truly is amazing! I was actually skeptical at first of a Christian LGBT film, but as soon as we met the LGBT characters all that fell away and I became entranced in this story of a man’s journey towards understanding that this community is worthy of love and that the youth in the community are truly suffering at the hands of not only their parents but organized religion and society.

Writer/Director/Producer Kevin O’Brien stated that his inspiration for the film was when he started to notice all of the youth being affected by religion and knowing that he needed to act. “As my faith and views changed, I was compelled to create my first film about the tensions between the church and the LGBTQ communities. I felt an obligation to call out the misinformation that is taught in many churches at the same time I offer a hug to the LGBTQ community, specifically to those youth who have faced religious rejection. It is my hope that At the End of the Day can bring healing to many who have been harmed, encouragement to those who have been doing the hard work of equality, and an opportunity for others to question their black-and-white worldview.” And a hug it gives!

I truly cannot praise enough the writing, acting and directing of this movie. Every part was so realistically performed and the writing was so genuine and real that it didn’t feel like a film at some points but like a mirror reflecting back at me and many other LGBT+ people who have been through the pain of being ostracized by religion. Not one character was one dimensional or a caricature of what a straight cis-gendered male perceives us as. So, hats off to O’Brien for portraying real life and not shying away from topics such as violence against the community, suicide, homelessness amongst youth, the ostracizing of youth from Christian colleges and churches and parental non-acceptance. The way it handles the church and shows that not every member preaches hate and that things do get better and you will find a home and family, even one that may not be biologically yours, is truly heartfelt. The way it encourages  the use of LGBT group homes and services when your situation turns dark is beautiful and poignant. The representation in this film is fantastic. And overall the message is one that we all need to hear.

Things do get better! Find your family, your tribe! Don’t let people preach God’s hate. Instead, understand God’s love. God truly loves you! And we love you! Happy Pride Month to everyone in the LGBT community and to our allies!