American Gospel – Christ Alone: Challenging, Empowering, Overwhelming

This movie was selected by my patron supporters over at the Cinematic Doctrine Patreon. Support as little as $3 a month and have your voice heard!

American Gospel: Christ Alone has been a word-of-mouth juggernaut in Christian circles both online and offline. I remember the impact it had on social media Reformed groups back in 2018, and I even remember when my pastor was recommending it at the pulpit during morning announcements. It was crazy. Now, in 2020, it’s landed on Netflix and you would think it was American Gospel: Christ Alone’s second coming, as groups online and offline have been praising its successes.

Through-out the episode we talk about balancing an appropriate appreciation of the documentary alongside healthy critique, how American Gospel: Christ Alone has both an excitement and frustration within its response to the prosperity gospel, and in our closing section, which runs quite long this time around, Daniel shares at length his first-hand experience with the prosperity gospel, and reveals how deep its damaging roots have entered the American culture.

Featuring talking heads with Matt Chandler, Paul Washer, and Benny Hinn’s nephew Costi Hinn, American Gospel: Christ Alone explores the core question of Christianity – “What is the Gospel?” – and juxtaposes the gospel proposed in Scripture against the gospel proposed by popular western televangelists. In doing so, it shines a light on real-life accounts from several prosperity gospel survivors and the dangers that lurk around every corner when misunderstanding and twisting the word of God for monetary gain.

American Gospel: Christ Alone is Rated TV-PG. IMDB doesn’t have a detailed certificate, so I’m going to run off what Netflix describes in their certificate: suicide, substances, and language. It features Costi Hinn, Paul Washer, Matt Chandler, Mark Dever, Justin Peters, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Bill Johnson, and Todd White. Directed by Brandon Kimber. American Gospel: Christ Alone is currently available on Netflix.

Consider supporting Cinematic Doctrine on Patreon! As a bonus, you can gain access to a once-a-month movie poll where you decide a movie we discuss on the podcast, early unedited episodes of the podcast, and merch!!

Melvin Benson is the Founder, Editor-In-Chief, and Lead Host of Cinematic Doctrine. Whether it’s a movie, show, game, comic, or novel, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s rich, he’s ready and willing to give it a try! His hope is to see King Jesus glorified as far as the east is from the west!

Cinematic Doctrine is available on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, and other major podcast apps.

undertone – dumbest movie of the decade? – Cinematic Doctrine: A Movie Review Podcast Hosted by Christians

Send us a Question!MOVIE DISCUSSION:Kathryn joins Melvin to talk a surprise horror hit of 2026, undertone! This spooky flick has been helmed "the scariest movie you'll ever hear" by Collider, but is that actually true? Also, what's with all the catholic imagery? And does everything gel well together, or would this have been better as a short-film? Topics:Editor's Note: No Patreon Exclusive discussion! But, I do intend to trim this episode down from its original 1:30:31 length, so if you want to hear the UNCUT version, tune in on Patreon here!Kathryn, "I bet you this movie was written and directed by a man."Melvin, "Well, there's a really good short film in there."There's a lot in undertone, but a lot of it is done much better in other movies, so Melvin lists a few and explains how.Pacing, and the film's sense of time, is really off.Kathryn enjoyed Nina Kiri's performance, and is curious to see what she does next after otherwise carrying this film on her own.As a podcasting hobbyist, Melvin complains about how undertone does podcasting.Is the movie dumb? Discuss.What does the antagonistic force in undertone have to do with sound?Melvin, "There's better movies out there. Watch those instead!"Talking about the ending… I guess…Recommendations:Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle (2015) (Book)Be My Valentine (2026) (Movie) Support the showSupport on Patreon for Unique Perks! Early access to uncut episodes Vote on a movie/show we review One-time reward of two Cinematic Doctrine Stickers & PinsSocial Links: ThreadsWebsiteInstagramLetterboxdFacebook Group 

1. undertone – dumbest movie of the decade? 01:16:02
2. Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey – On Kids Movies 47:03
3. The Fly (1986) – w/ Horror Hour with the Hannas on Fragile Bodies, Men, and Stomachs 01:16:52
4. Scream 7 – Kalshi, MetaAI, and Israel Controversy 01:00:16
5. Bugonia – Rich People Blame You 01:24:36