Line #36 Film/Persecuted


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/persecuted.jpg]]
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3	''Persecuted'' is a 2014 religious/political thriller directed by Daniel Lusko.
4
5	John Luther (Creator/JamesRemar) is a popular evangelist with a dark past. He is approached by Senator Donald Harrison (Creator/BruceDavison), who wants him to endorse The Faith and Fairness Act, a vaguely defined religious bill that will give all religions equal status (or something like that). When Luther refuses, Harrison starts a plan to discredit Luther and leave his ministry under new management. He has a hitman, Mr. Gray, knock Luther out, kill a runaway girl and frame Luther for her rape and murder, forcing Luther to go on the run in an attempt to [[ClearMyName clear his name]] with help from his father (Creator/FredThompson).
6	----
7	!!Tropes:
8	* AffablyEvil: While Senator Harrison frames an innocent man for murder, he is very polite and even friendly throughout most of the movie.
9	* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler:The film ends just as Luther is about to talk at a press conference and leaves it unclear whether or not he will speak up for his beliefs or play suit with the conspirators]].
10	* AsTheGoodBookSays: Not unexpectedly, Luther quotes the Bible more than once. Before he [[spoiler:knocks out Senator Harrison]], he turns 1 Samuel 24:4 into a PreAssKickingOneLiner.
11	* AuthorTract: The film is basically one long "Christians are persecuted in America" sermon.
12	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Luther has cleared his name, the senator has been killed, as has Mr. Gray and many of their operatives. However, the man on top of the conspiracy, the President, is free and above suspicion. Finally, the ending implies that he may still not be safe to speak without fear of another attack on him.]]
13	* BoomHeadshot: The death of [[spoiler:Charles Luther]].
14	* TheCameo: Fox News' own Gretchen Carlson appears in a couple of scenes as a news anchor.
15	* CaughtOnTape: Luckily for Luther, the murder of the runaway he was framed for was caught on tape by some random people who just happened to be out filming random stuff that night. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, the footage is stolen by the Senator's men]].
16	* ClearMyName
17	* CoincidentalBroadcast: When Luther tries to get a room at a motel, the girl behind the register recognizes him from a news broadcast on a TV behind him.
18	* CorruptCop: [[spoiler:Mr. Gray]] turns out to be [[spoiler:an agent of the Secret Service]].
19	* TheCorrupter: Senator Harrison convinces Ryan Morris to take the lead of the ministry in Luther's absence and then uses him to persuade the church board to follow the Senator's agenda.
20	* CreatorCameo: [[spoiler:The President]] is played by James R. Higgins, a Tulsa cardiologist and one of the film's producers.
21	* DarkAndTroubledPast: Luther is said to be a reformed abusive alcoholic and gambling drug addict.
22	* DisposableVagrant: The runaway/[[DisposableSexWorker sex worker]] whose murder Luther is framed for.
23	* TheDragon: Mr. Gray to Senator Harrison.
24	* EngineeredPublicConfession: [[spoiler:Luther tricks Senator Harrison into admitting his part in the conspiracy while he secretly records it]].
25	* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler:The President]], good manners and [[SouthernGentleman Southern drawl]] aside, is rarely heard ''not'' speaking in veiled threats, especially to Senator Harrison.
26	* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Ryan Morris. He is chatty and gets irritated looks from most people, but becomes Luther's successor in the ministry after Luther becomes hunted.
27	* TheHeavy: Even though the Senator is in charge of the conspiracy, Mr. Gray is the one who does almost all of the real damage to Luther in the movie, including framing him for murder.
28	* HollywoodLaw: As Hannah and Jake of ''WebVideo/TheBibleReloaded'' pointed out in their review, the Faith and Fairness Act (as far as they understood it, anyway) is hopelessly unconstitutional and would never get passed into law, or, assuming it somehow did, ever stand up in court.
29	* InTheHood: When out in the open, Luther wears a black hooded jacket.
30	* ItsAllAboutMe: The film seems to treat as if this Bill passes only Christianity would be affected, rather than every religion.
31	* UsefulNotes/LogicalFallacies: The film tries to treat Christianity as an oppressed minority, where at the same time the Senator wants the church to endorse the bill because he states it would reach more people than the news. Therefore showing that Christianity has a lot of power.
32	* TheManBehindTheMan: Guess who's ordering Senator Harrison around? [[spoiler:The President of the United States himself.]]
33	* MonochromeCasting: Pretty much every single major or supporting character is white.
34	* MookLieutenant: Mr. Gray has a bunch of other operatives working for him.
35	* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: John ''Luther'' seems to have been named after Martin Luther, who similarly taught salvation through grace alone (now the common Protestant position), as well as ''John'' Calvin, the other major figure of the Reformation, known for his support of predestination (more contentious).
36	* NebulousCriminalConspiracy: One that goes up all the way to [[spoiler:the White House]], apparently.
37	* PaperThinDisguise: Luther tries to check into a motel - with nothing but ''a pair of sunglasses'' for a disguise. It doesn't work.
38	* PoliceAreUseless: Most honest law enforcement officers seen in the film, such as the FBI agents that appear later, do ''nothing'' to aid or hinder Luther. Not only is he able to run around out in the open (and even go swimming at a public pool) when there supposedly is a massive manhunt for him, the few honest FBI agents [[spoiler:are either killed or, in the case of one, taken hostage and have to be saved by Luther]].
39	* PluckyComicRelief: Pastor Ryan Morris, Luther's assistant in the ministry.
40	* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Luther has a moment of this [[spoiler:when finding his father dead]].
41	-->''"Are you not true to your name?!"''
42	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Luther delivers one to [[spoiler:the board of his ministry for siding with Senator Harrison]].
43	* RuleOfSymbolism: When the church board meets after Luther goes on the run, they have a big golden calf statue in the center of the desk (and the frame). The filmmakers weren't aiming for subtlety...
44	* ShowerOfAngst: Luther washing the victim's blood off of himself before going on the run.
45	* SouthernGentleman: [[spoiler:The President]], who speaks with a [[UsefulNotes/BillClinton Clinton-esque]] Southern accent.
46	* StrawmanPolitical: The movie portrays anyone who doesn't profess Christianity as the only valid religion and/or won't promote it as such as greedy and corrupt and, according to Charles Luther, "believe in nothing". As Right Wing Watch put it:
47	-->"The enemies of religious liberty are those who use the language of fairness and equality and those who say America is not a Christian nation. Religious pluralism is portrayed not as a matter of respecting freedom for every faith tradition, but as a deceptive, coercive tool of government to erase religious difference and put all faiths under the politically correct thumb of government. Other religious leaders are either co-conspirators or complicit sheep."
48	* WavingSignsAround: The opening shows a protest related to religious freedom.
49	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Senator Harrison wants the bill passed, supposedly, [[spoiler:to monitor potential terrorists]]. It's unclear just ''[[MissingStepsPlan how]]'' [[MissingStepsPlan this was meant to function]].

Context Film / Persecuted