That, Winter adds, can be one of the downfalls of Christian movies. They simply don’t tell the right sorts of stories in the right way. Winter believes they can be too “propositional.” That is, they concentrate so much on the point they want to make that they forget to put that point within a compelling, moving storyline.
“It’s a story and a truth and a beauty thing, not a propositional thing,” Winter says. “Too many Christian movies are propositional.” And while he adds that he has deep love and respect for many involved in the Christian movie industry—many of whom he would call his friends—he doesn’t know how many films made inside the evangelical Christian film industry have true staying power.
He understands the drive that encourages Christian filmmakers to tell their stories. “They want to share the good things that have happened in their lives,” he says. But often, the story’s intrinsic power gets lost. “You gotta earn that,” he says. “You’ve got to feel the change that has happened.”
Winter hopes that The Promise will impact audiences—help them feel the hope, the suffering and even the promise that its characters feel.
“I want to tell the honest story, the authentic story,” Winter says. “Telling the truth of [what happened] without an agenda. … when we tell the truth, you can feel that authenticity.”
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