The Overnighters

2014
7.4| 1h42m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 10 October 2014 Released
Producted By: Mile End Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Desperate, broken men chase their dreams and run from their demons in the North Dakota oil fields. A local Pastor's decision to help them has extraordinary and unexpected consequences.

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Reviews

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.
Joanna Mccarty Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Wyatt There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
jej-93998 I was expecting to be uplifted by an amazingly inspiring story of compassion and action. Instead I was left depressed and quite disturbed. It deed leave a clear distinction of how not to pastor and lead a church and how you cannot be a lone ranger in Christian ministry; this kind of ministry is on the front line of spiritual warfare - our battle is never against flesh and blood. The film did not depict a great zeal for prayer and seeking God's guidance, the pastor even told us that his biblical reading is very one dimensional. Was I inspired? Most definitely not! The poor, poor wife of this man, to be told on camera, in a very public place of his own massive sin issues. What a terrible film/documentary!
MovieHoliks I'm not a religious person by any means, but half-way through seeing this, the movie almost starts to rope you in. Pastor Jay Reinke of Concordia Lutheran Church in Williston, ND seems to be practicing what he preaches. He does so by helping those arriving in town for work due to the state's oil boom with accommodations in the church or church parking lot- and sometimes even in his home. Some of those arriving in town have felonies in their past, and Reinke even lets them live in his house with his children nearby, so I kept expecting something to happen. But what does end up happening (not to give anything away) was quite a shock- and ultimately made the film for me. Whether you're religious or not, I really think you can get something out of this, even if just a lesson on being non-judgmental, and helping your fellow man...
92 Beans This documentary is gold. As the ending titles begin, you may feel that your world will never be the same. If you were raised and possibly scarred from your small, primarily Christian hometown, this film will especially hit home (pun intended). I watched it with my boyfriend. We were both left questioning our existence. I think they call that thought-provoking. Following are samples of my own questions. My boyfriend was left with many more questions of his own. Where is the balance between Christian love and Christian judgment? Must there be an 'us' and a 'them'? Is doing good for others in essence a selfish act? Do we recognize others' needs and fulfill them just in part to be recognized ourselves? Is the need to feel needed just the need for attention or recognition? Is it narcissistic to think we can bring positive change in others' lives? Must we realize how small we are and what our capabilities are in fulfilling others needs? When can we feel truly fulfilled in the small, local, sometimes unrecognized but integral good we do? How can we feel validated in the good we do for others without applause? To me a great film is not necessarily one that leaves me with questions. A great film is one that does not leave me for many days. This film will surely have me thinking for a very long while.
Rahul Kamath As I write this, I have come to the realization that the Overnighters is among the most thought-provoking and well-made documentary movies I have ever seen. It is beautifully composed and edited, but sobering and utterly devastating on nearly every level.What makes this documentary so moving is that it draws out, in very sharp relief, the eternal tension we all have as individuals and as a society between choosing love and choosing fear-- and rarely does the right choice seem so unclear as it does here.After all, it's all well and good to say "love thy neighbor" when you're talking about neighbors as abstract entities, but what happens when your Christian community is actually confronted with a strange set of outsiders who walk your streets and sleep in the town's parking lots? How do you react when they seem like scary and violent intruders, the source of crime and chaos in your formerly sleepy Northern town? Then, suddenly, the teachings of Jesus must be rendered unambiguous: are these proclamations to "do unto others" just nice-sounding but impractical platitudes, or are they words to live and act by even when (especially when?) they are difficult? We find this out when the protagonist of the documentary, a small-town pastor in a newly-booming oil town in North Dakota, bravely tries to go far beyond just 'talking the talk' with regards to living out the Bibical teachings. By providing refuge and food to those who have no other place to turn, his church floors become flooded with destitute men and women who have spent their last pennies making their way up to this otherwise desolate land in search of the rumored well-paying jobs that can save their families, salvage their broken lives, and restore their faith in America. These "overnighters" have nothing, and rely on the pastor's kindness to survive until they find the jobs they desperately seek. But they also come with their own problems-- problems that the rest of the town isn't eager to deal with.Over time, we find that this well-meaning man of God-- who is resolutely chained to the idea that he must not simply repeat the ideas of Jesus, but truly live them out-- must travel alone in his journey to do the Lord's work. And it is a path he will pay very dearly to walk.*spoiler alert* He soon finds, like Jesus himself, that all those who surround him will eventually turn on him; first his congregation, then his community, then the destitute overnighters he saves from the streets, and ultimately his own family. Once the final twists and turns make their way through the pastor's life, one wonders if God too has chosen to abandon him.