FANTASIA26 REVIEW: Godhead [20XX]

Rating: NR | Runtime: 99 minutes
Director(s): Mark H. Rapaport
Writer(s): Mark H. Rapaport / Mark H. Rapaport & Kimball Farley (story)

Did I ever tell you about the eighth day?

A set of twins walk into a small church in search of an objective eye. God has spoken to them with a revelation that one embodies the Holy Spirit and must be released from their corporeal form before morning. Firstborn (Sarah Coffey) craves the position but believes her brother’s (Kimball Farley’s Secondborn) innocence earns it. He fears the position because he desires earthly pleasures he’s yet to experience. So, the decision shall be left to a priest.

The thing is, however, that the priest they’ve chosen (Al Warren) is mired in a crisis of faith. Yes, he rejects the premise of the task they’ve given him on the basis of scriptural anomalies despite admitting he believes in miracles, but he also harbors a secret we’ve discovered before the twins arrive. Well, it’s more like two secrets. One: he’s locked a boy (Luke Speakman) in his house to raise him away from the sins of the world. Two: he’s done so because God is gone.

So, more than just a debate about whether the Holy Trinity (or Godhead, the film’s title, as the twins call it) should include an innocent with impure thoughts or a sinner with pure hopes is only one part of what Mark H. Rapaport has created. There’s also the potential for that debate to reignite this priest’s faith in the divinity. Because whether the mission is real or fantasy doesn’t excuse the fact that its questions and answers can wash the father’s cynicism away.

To get there, though, means discovering this trio’s motivations. Why has the priest sequestered his adopted son (found on his doorstep as a baby) from the glory of the life he sermonizes to his parishioners? Why have Firstborn and Secondborn chosen him to pull the trigger of the gun that God has prevented them from pulling on each other or themselves? Was the former right to preserve the boy’s innocence? And, if so, does it prove Secondborn’s right?

It’s easy to presume to know the answers to these questions if you believe the premise of the film is authentic. You weed out the selfishness and cowardice. You find the kindness and compassion that reveals itself in troubling circumstances. The priest still strives to save a soul like Maude (Mila Middleswarth) from her abusive father despite his own crimes against the boy. Secondborn still holds onto his faith despite having the ability to save himself instead.

What if the premise is fake, though? What if we’re meant to see through the illusions of empathy to mark them as evidence of deceit? The priest helps Maude to alleviate his guilt from a selfish act. Firstborn speaks about Secondborn’s innocence to steer him and their mediator away from her true desire: to live free from the burden of a disabled brother. And Secondborn goes along with it all not because of his inability to comprehend, but because of his need for purpose.

Rapaport therefore has many options to supply Godhead a meaningful conclusion of either hope or despair. So, it means something that he toes the line to deliver a mixture of both instead. It makes sense since the whole concept of faith being based on knowing what cannot be known is somewhat false. It’s often only through the proof miracles that nonbelievers are converted. And since this priest has lost his way, only a miracle will ensure he becomes what the twins need.

The real question becomes whether that miracle will be bathed in the light of God or the sweat of violence? Will the twins talk this priest into accepting his place in their divine game despite how they try his nerves and flippantly disregard the sanctity of his church? Or will they push him so far off the edge that his sins will force him to act on impulse? There’s something to letting reaction trump action that gets to the heart of fate above chance.

This is especially true when you consider the gray area of fate due to Firstborn’s penchant for intentionally raising the temperature of everyone around her. Coffey is a lot of fun here as she smiles and pokes at the priest and her brother to position herself as the one to be released from her human form despite believing Secondborn is the true Holy Spirit. There’s as much truth to her manipulating the board as there is to her being an unwitting tool for the priest to flip it over.

Warren and Farley (who co-conceived the story with Rapaport) are the focal points as a result. How do they respond to Firstborn’s antics? How do they trick each other (intentionally or not) to go against their own desires? Whereas Firstborn calmly needles away at them, they both succumb to their resulting rage until only God can quiet the storm. In the end, they’re all sinners being shown a path to enlightenment that isn’t quite what they expect.

It’s the darkness of that path that entertains us. The deception, horrors, and possibilities that connect these flawed souls together to not only fulfill a prophecy, but also ensure the lessons learned are passed to the rest of the world. Because freeing a twin’s soul is only half the goal. Giving the priest his love of God and himself back is the other. Does he deserve it? Maybe not. But no one said redemption was simple or that God’s lessons were perfect.