Come Sunday Isn't An Enlightening As It Could Have Been

Going against the norm is always a risk in typical societies and that's especially true when one is trying to buck traditional theological norms. As a practicing Christian in Texas, I can tell you first hand that religious communities can be heavily wary, at best, to the prospect of new practices that upend traditional customs. Even recognizing how daunting the process is, it can be important for us as individuals to challenge the status quo, something preacher Carlton Pearson (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the main character of the new Joshua Marston directed drama Come Sunday, is very much reminded of after he causes quite the stir in declaring that Hell does not exist in one of his Sunday morning sermons.


It wasn't so long ago that Pearson would have thought such a notion to be ridiculous and even hearsay, but after the death of his Uncle Quincy (Danny Glover) as well as viewing footage on TV of suffering children in foreign countries, he comes to the realization from God himself that Hell does not exist. Pearson is a highly influential figure in the Christian community, with his sermons drawing widespread crowds and even being broadcast on television, so this declaration is heard far and wide and has a similarly expansive impact on his life. His business partner and long-time friend, Henry (Jason Segel), thinks he's gone nuts while Pearson's former mentor, Oral Roberts (Martin Sheen), is openly disappointed in his former pupil.

This, of course, puts Pearson in the predicament of trying to figure out whether or not to stay true to his beliefs or to just forsake them in favor of getting some semblance back into his life. It's nice to see this kind of story that grapples with the world of Christianity and those who practice the religion that isn't just God's Not Dead echo chamber garbage. Come Sunday doesn't offer up easy answers or similarly simple quandaries for its lead character to navigate, more realistically complex challenges await Pearson once he proclaims that Hell doesn't exist and that makes for far more interesting storytelling.

This means that scenes like the one where Henry comes to tell Pearson he's planning to start his own separate church have an actual sense of bold unpredictability to them that Ejiofor's riveting performance thrives in. Unfortunately, Come Sunday can't follow through on the interesting ideas and tone it presents to the viewer. By the time the midway point of the story has begun, a more straightforward plot has begun to take hold involving Carlton Pearson's ego getting swelled by the word of God that feels like a less captivating recycled version of Andrew Garfield's journey in Silence. The tantalizing possibilities for complex character explorations teased in prior scenes have given way to more predictable complications for Pearson to navigate.

The final twenty or so minutes of Come Sunday are especially disappointing, as Pearson hits rock bottom and then gets his life turned around in such a short period of time that nothing we see him go through is allowed to have an impact. Seemingly pivotal moments like a reunion with Oral Roberts just whiz right by and that's a pity since earlier sequences of Come Sunday demonstrated a real knack for interesting character interactions. It's also a pity that Lakeith Stanfield's character, a gay pianist at Pearson's church whose been diagnosed with AIDS, ends up being simply the rote stereotype of a tragically doomed gay character whose only around to provide motivation for a heterosexual protagonist.

Stanfield is so good in the soft-spoken but affirmative role (this man has such phenomenal range, he never once reminds one of his performances in Get Out or Short Term 12) that it's a shame the character couldn't have been taken to more interesting places. The same can be said for characters played by Segel and Condola Rashad, the latter of whom plays Pearson's wife in yet another role that starts out hinting at extremely interesting ideas (namely that she wasn't a regular attendee at the church prior to marrying Pearson and how that affects her relationship with long-time devotees to the church) before settling into being a disposable figure in the story. Come Sunday brings some mighty intriguing themes and performances to the table, which makes it oh so tragic when it ends up fizzling out by not properly utilizing those themes and performances properly.