 |
| Gabe (Dane Seth Hurlburt) and Esther (Heather del Rio) in Paradise Recovered. |
By Don Simpson
Esther (Heather del Rio), a young Jesus-loving God-fearing Christian woman donning an over-sized frumpy and shapeless dress, takes a job at a health food store owned by Gabriel (Dane Seth Hurlburt), who is for all intents and purposes a left-wing Godless bohemian. As they say, desperation makes strange bed-fellows. (“The point on the ideological spectrum where far-left bohemians and right-wing fundamentalists meet is a health food store.”)
Esther also works as an assistant for David Sawyer (Andrew Sensenig) -- the local preacher for Warren F. Vanderbilt's Prophetic Watchman Ministries, a very prohibitive Christian sect -- and his family.
Esther soon finds herself homeless, churchless and friendless. Faced with no other option, she moves in with Gabriel and Mark (Oliver Luke) and the grand discourse and debate regarding philosophy versus theology commences. Gabriel, a son of a preacher man and devout skeptic, is writing a thesis on belief -- people who believe something that all evidence points to the contrary (read: Creationism). Esther, however, believes that the Bible represents the absolute truth and cannot comprehend how someone can be a good person if they do not abide by the rules of the Bible. (Vanderbilt's interpretation of the Bible says no to birthdays, holidays, doctors, movies, music, “unclean” foods, questions, personal rights and freedom. According to Gabriel: “They tell you where to go, what to think, who to marry and they threaten your soul if you don’t do what they say.”)
Producer-director Storme Wood and producer-writer Andie Redwine’s Paradise Recovered is essentially a modern-day retelling of the parable of the Good Samaritan. Wood and Redwine intelligently discuss faith and religious tolerance (and intolerance) -- as well as critically analyzing abusive and prohibitive religious sects -- all without a tinge of condescension or judgment. Gabriel and Esther’s characterizations are handled brilliantly -- in terms of acting, writing and directing. Above all, Paradise Recovered turns out to prove that religious and spiritual people can peacefully co-exist with atheists, agnostics and everyone else as long as there is an open and intelligent discourse.
