Lifetime’s first faith-based slate finally concludes.
And it ends with the aptly titled Finding Faith. It was fine.
The film feels exactly like what you’d expect from a traditional African-American faith-based film or play, right down to the power players and familiar figures who star in it.
There is nothing wrong with that at all. It’s especially appealing for those in Lifetime’s mainstream audience who may never have experienced these types of films.
But as someone who has grown up and watched them my entire life, there was nothing particularly new, compelling, or memorable about it.
Somewhere around the time of the dramatic accident and disturbing death of Jaylen Williams, played by Demetrius Grosse (a familiar face in many of your favorite procedurals (The Rookie, The Brave, Game of Silence), I wasn’t gripped by the story.
I was frustrated. Probably because I knew how it would play out and that it would hit the exact same notes that it always does, and Finding Faith did.
There’s something about any story with a Black female character that is always rooted in pain and trauma, followed by abuse of alcohol or drugs, and maybe, if she’s lucky, a reminder that she should have faith. It’s always enough to push her forward until it all pans out in the end.
Trauma. Abuse. Self-flagellations. And then a show of resilience and strength that’s almost glorified and held to some high regard.
Sprinkled into that, we do get other things, potentially the friend who is struggling just as much, or a terrible influence. Fortunately, Maria (Queen’s Nadine Velazquez) had a moment or two of being a negative influence, but was mostly just as damaged, hurt, broken, and beaten as Faith.
And we had that traditional close call of her nearly dying before she, too, found a light at the end of the tunnel. Her husband came through for her, and the grief over losing her son didn’t swallow her up in the end, but for the grace of God.
There’s nothing wrong with this storyline, pe se, I’m just — tired of seeing it, I guess.
Paula Patton’s Faith falls apart after the death of her husband. She feels guilty over having to choose work ahead of being with him when that tragic accident happened.
He was an honorable man who died a hero, still sending her lovely words of encouragement before he met his maker.
It’s all sad.
And because she fell apart, she went through the predictable arc of her son having to step up and play adult and caretaker to her instead of getting to grieve properly.
The film skates past the unique trauma he may have experienced watching his own father blow up in front of his eyes because it isn’t really about him.
He’s an abstract concept in a film that’s centers Faith. It’s predictable but disappointing.
We even have some legendary actors in the fold playing the type of characters they’re familiar and great at playing: Keith David and the iconic Loretta Devine.
Henry and Helen were staples — the same archetypes in pretty much every single Black film of this caliber.
Helen was obnoxious, judgmental, and even had her moment of admitting that she wished Faith had died in the accident, not her son. You know, the usual stuff.
But where they shone was in taking in Faith’s son. They didn’t have much choice since she wasn’t looking after him.
However, even that plot point was portrayed as just another unfortunate event that befell Faith.
Somewhere amid all of this, because again, it’s the same type of script, Faith connects with Pastor Wesley, played by Stephen Bishop. He, too, is a familiar face to Black audiences,, having starred in numerous films and series targeting the demographic over the years.
Hey, he even played in a film titled Finding Tony. Funny, right?
He helped her through these dark points, although the film never delves deep enough into that connection to make it quite as convincing as it should be.
And, of course, it hints at the romance to come for those two, because, of course.
Part of Faith’s healing journey involves getting her life back on track after grieving her husband, taking on a new job, sharing her testimony with the church, reconnecting with her son, and, roughly a year later, finding love again.
All’s well that ends well, right?
The film takes us into the Black Church setting, touching on its unique culture. We get some great singing courtesy of Velázquez. And a sermon that’s totally on point.
But overall, the film plays into the same tropes that we always get for films about Black womanhood and faith. It’s the same story many of us have seen dozens of times before about trauma, adversity, and resilience.
It strikes the exact same notes and chords. And by the end of the film, it doesn’t leave me with any lasting impression or impact.
Finding Faith is just — more of the same.
As someone excited to see Paula Patton, Loretta Devine, Keith David, and the like, I hoped the Faith slate would end up on a high note. And it was just — what it was.
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