'Electric Jesus' film, starring 'The Office' actor Brian Baumgartner, a nostalgic look at '80s CCM
What happens when “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Almost Famous” meet Stryper? A coming-of-age dramedy about an aspiring Christian rock band in the ‘80s, complete with original songs, big hair and an affectionate look at a bygone era that left an indelible mark on CCM.
“Electric Jesus,” from writer-director Chris White, opens in 1986, where Erik, a quiet teenager, is asked to run sound for his favorite Christian metal band, 316. With an '80s-glam look and impressive vocals — and a hit song titled “Commando for Christ" — the band soon grabs the attention of a smooth-talking Christian rock promoter, Skip Wick (Brian Baumgartner of “The Office”). Skip takes the boys on the road, promising to both make them, and Jesus, famous.
While on the road, the team meets a pastor’s (Judd Nelson of “The Breakfast Club” fame) daughter, 16-year-old Sarah (Shannon Hutchinson). She stows herself away in 316’s RV after a church performance in Alabama. Once Sarah's discovered, she solidifies her spot in the band and in Erik’s heart.
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In an interview with The Christian Post, White revealed that he's a product of 1980s Evangelical youth group culture, and it was this nostalgia, coupled with his desire to make a “rock band coming of age movie,” that sparked “Electric Jesus.”
“I kind of blended … what I knew, that world, with some of the tropes, the expectations, of a rock band movie, and that's where it kind of came from,” he said.
The music in “Electic Jesus,” written by Daniel Smith of the Danielson band and performed by actor Wyatt Lenhart, is equal parts catchy and cheesy, capturing the drama and over-the-top “hair band” sound of the ‘80s.
White revealed that some have dubbed the movie “a love letter to Stryper” — and in fact, the iconic band screened the movie and “loved it.” Like 316, Stryper was controversial in their day, with televangelist Jimmy Swaggart famously likening the metal band to “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”
“We've gotten so much support from former and current artists in the CCM world that see their own journey in the film, and that kind of that surprised me,” White said. “I'm a fan, I'm not a musician, I just made up the story. But fans of the old music feel seen, people that grew up in that youth group culture are like, ‘Yeah, that's exactly the way we talked.’”
“We have a lot of fans of the film that are not Christians or would call themselves ex-Evangelicals. And, you know, they just see it as a fun rock 'n' roll comedy. … It's been a really fascinating response, which is very rewarding whenever you step into something kind of weird and then it comes across and people see something about it that really resonates with them.”
Baumgartner, whose toupe-wearing, smooth-talking Skip is easily a film highlight, told CP that growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, he was “very much aware” of the Christian music scene and “this sort of strange dichotomy between being a high school student and being in the Evangelical world.”
So stepping into the role of a sleazy band promoter, particularly one in the CCM world, was a challenge Baumgartner readily tackled.
“It was based in at least a time and a place, and to some degree, a culture, that I was familiar with, but had never been able to explore before as an actor, which made it really appealing to me,” he said.
“What I really, really enjoy is the opportunity to play a flawed character that on the surface may be viewed as a bad guy, and to attempt to work and find the humanity within that character … I think ultimately [Skip] is someone who, like many of us, quite frankly, has bigger dreams for himself that may be beyond his potential, but it doesn't necessarily make him a bad guy. He's a flawed guy who's trying to do his best.”
“Electric Jesus” is not a faith-based movie, a point stressed by both White and Baumgartner. “We’re not trying to satisfy that genre,” the director said. There are elements throughout the film that reflect that, including scenes with alcohol, some language and crude jokes.
“Electric Jesus’ isn't designed to trick you into becoming a Christian, or to affirm everything you want to be true,” White said. “It's not a movie that's going to fix your marriage or teach you how to be a better person. I think it's a lovingly crafted, honest comedy about growing up with Jesus … I do have memories of that in my Southern Baptist youth group in Columbia, South Carolina. Many of those people I'm still friends with now, and I love us, and we were goofy and weird. And we weren't always right.”
“I think if … a filmmaker, a Christian filmmaker or otherwise, if the goal is to make this piece of art, make it honest, if you just tell the truth, I think the audience, whether they're Christians, or not Christians, will feel respected,” he continued. “And that's why I think we like things, because we feel like the people telling us the story, they like us, and they're telling a story and they respect me as an audience. And that's what I'd like to see more of maybe in Christian films.”
Baumgartner agreed that “great art is about questions, it's not about answers,” adding: “I think that's where not just Christian culture, but everything, runs into problems. ‘This is the answer, this is what is true, this is what you should think, this is how you should be,’ and I think for a lot of people, that's a turnoff.”
The early years of CCM and its highs and lows have been the focus of considerable media attention in recent years, most recently in the 2021 film “The Jesus Music.” Reflecting on the public’s interest in this particular genre, White pointed out that the books, music and films marketed as “Christian” in the ’80s and ’90s are “kind of fracturing."
"I don't know that they were so much built to last," he said. “I think people are trying to figure out what that is now. And so a lot of that old content seems kind of dated and strange, but a lot of us remember it. Some fondly, maybe some sheepishly, certainly there's some cringing there. But that doesn't mean we don't have some nostalgia for it. So I think that many of us are just kind of puzzling over it now and trying to figure out what's worth keeping and maybe what might be best left in the past. It’s a topic of conversation and fascination for many people, for sure.”
Still, the film’s take on the Christian music subculture is intentionally “loving,” White stressed, and like any good fictional rock biopic, “Electric Jesus” will be nostalgic for some, entertaining for others, and hopefully remind all viewers of their shared humanity.
“The discovery I made making the movie, writing, shooting, editing, the idea that the story you're living now … it’s not all about you. It's not all about me. Often, maybe most often, we are supporting characters and another person's story,” White said.
“Maybe a takeaway for a viewer would just be, it's not all about me. It's about us, in life, in our faith, in our politics, in our pursuits, in our families. I think that can be an amazing and positive hopeful takeaway.”
Baumgartner added, “It’s about the community. It's about other people, and I think that's a really beautiful thing about the movie.”
"Electric Jesus" is available on Digital and On-Demand.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]
