Gravity 'Celebrates Presence Of God' Say US Christian Reviewers

Christian critics in the US praise the spiritual candour and apparent faith in a deity expressed in Alfonso Cuaron's film, which George Clooney denies writing a key scene
Ben Child theguardian.com, Thursday 10 October 2013 08.19 BST
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Link to video: Gravity: watch Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in the new full-length trailer of the space-walk thriller

It has picked up almost universally positive reviews and is being tipped for Oscars glory next year. Now Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity has begun to pick up praise from a surprising source - Christian critics who say the 3Dspace spectacular celebrates the presence of God in the universe.
1. Gravity
2. Production year: 2013
3. Country: USA
4. Directors: Alfonso Cuaron
5. Cast: George Clooney, Sandra Bullock
6. More on this film

Paul Asay of the Christian review blog Plugged In said Gravity showed "the paradoxes of the Christian faith echoed on the screen" and appeared to reference resurrection themes, the concept of a personal interaction with God and of hope in the afterlife.

"The film deals with spirituality honestly, not explicitly from a Christian perspective, but you can take it as such," he told the Christian Post. "If you follow the trail, it will lead right to Christianity."
Craig Detweiler, described as an author, filmmaker, cultural commentator, and associate professor of Communication at Pepperdine University, said the film was explicitly "theistic."

"She literally says thank you," the reviewer told the Christian Post. "You don't hear God called by name, but she does address characters on the other side of life in heaven, clearly believes in an afterlife, and clearly expresses thanks to an unnamed almighty."

Detweiler said Gravity dealt with "life's ultimate questions – why we are here, why live, what happens after we die". He added: "It takes grief seriously and encourages us to press on because of the promise of eternal life."

Finally, Christian reviewer Professor Eric Hann of Biola University said the film showed how a personal God could give new meaning and purpose to a suffering soul. "I don't know that I would make the claim that the film gestures toward Christ himself, but a God who interacts with events, who does miracles – there's a definite argument in that," he said.
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Link to video: George Clooney, Sandra Bullock and Alfonso Cuarón talk about Gravity at the Venice film festival

Cuaron's film, which features Bullock and George Clooney as an astronaut and medical engineer working together to survive after an accident leaves them cast adrift in space, opened in top spot at the US box office at the weekend with $55.6m (£34.6m), in the process breaking the all-time record for an October debut. It was also released in Australia last week, and is due to debut in UK cinemas on 8 November.

Meanwhile, Clooney has denied writing a key scene in Gravity, despite comments by Cuaron to the contrary. "I didn't write any scene," Clooney told The Wrap. "That scene was there from the minute I was handed the script. The problem they were having was afterward."

Cuaron had earlier told Vulture: "There was one scene we were doing over and over and over, and George overheard that we were dealing with that. And then one night I receive an email from him, saying, 'I heard you were struggling with this. I took a shot with the scene, Read it. Throw it out.' And we ended up using it. This was exactly what we needed."