I Can Only Imagine

The song you know. The story you don’t.

’’I Can Only Imagine’’ is the biggest-selling Christian popular song of all time . Amazingly, the song was written in mere minutes by MercyMe lead singer Bart Millard. He was able to do that because it was born of his life experiences. Growing up in Greenville, Texas, he suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his father. When dad becomes terminally ill, he finds redemption by embracing his faith and rediscovering his love for his son. Years later, Bart’s troubled childhood and mended relationship with his dad inspires him to write the song. The film has done surprisingly well at the US box office, despite the middling press reviews.

110 minutes.
Parental Guidance 10-12 (Violence).
Drama, Family, Religious.

Not currently showing on the local cinema circuit.

Would be nice to have an audience...

Credits

Cast	J. Michael Finley, Madeline Carroll, Trace Adkins, Priscilla C. Shirer, Cloris Leachman, Dennis Quaid
Director	Andrew Erwin, Jon Erwin
Screenplay	Jon Erwin, Brent McCorkle, Alex Cramer
Music	Brent McCorkle
Cinematography	Kristopher Kimlin
Editing	Andrew Erwin, Brent McCorkle
Soundtrack	Available
Made in	2018
Produced by	Kevin Downes Productions, Mission Pictures International, City on a Hill Productions, Imagine Rights LLC, LD Entertainment, Toy Gun Films

Official Site | IMDB page | ScreenIt Report | CommonSenseMedia Report
Scroll down for embedded trailer

Film and Publications Board (FPB) Report (SA)

Genre	Drama
Language	None
Nudity	None
Sex	None
Violence	Mild to moderate domestic violence, mostly implied and strongly disapproved
Prejudice	None
Blasphemy	None
Drug abuse	None
Comments	The material contains complex and mature negative themes of being raised by an abusive father,abandonment, being a non-believer, Christian faith, rejection, facing challenged, being diagnosed with cancer with positive inspirational themes of gospel music, talent, love, faith, redemption, forgiveness, fulfilling ambitions, living the dream and overcoming challenges. The positive themes in the film mitigate the complexity of negative themes. The intention of the film is to inspire and all negative themes have positive resolutions.
These details are supplied by the FPB. If you have a problem with any of the above, please take it up directly with the FPB. Read the Classification Guidelines.

USA MPAA rating

G: All ages	Rated PG for thematic elements including some violence
Runtime	110
USA version is usually but not always the same as South African release. Versions released on streaming or DVD, Blu-ray or Video may also differ.

ScreenIt Report (USA)

Sex / Nudity	Violence	Blood / Gore / Gross
Guns / Weapons	Profanity	Alcohol / Drugs
Smoking	Disrespectful / Bad Attitude	Imitative Behaviour
Frightening / Tense Scenes	Jump Scenes	Tense Family Scenes
Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Topics to talk about

CommonSenseMedia Report (USA)

Suggested age limit 10 +	Positive messages	Positive role models
Violence	Sex	Language
Consumerism	Drinking, drugs, smoking

Ratings

Scale (Max)	20
What the Critics say
ScreenIt Jim Judy A solid offering that’s given me faith that a faith-based film can deliver something beyond a sermon.	13
Metacritic.com 7 critics	6
Rottentomatoes critics 23 critics	12
Rottentomatoes tomatometer Tomatometer Can Only Imagine’s message will have the most impact among Christian audiences, but overall, its performances and storytelling represent a notable evolution in faith-based cinema.	14
CommonSenseMedia Sandie Angulo Chen Poignant faith-based drama about hit song’s inspiration.	10
What the People say
Metacritic.com users 31 users	16
Rottentomatoes users 3175 users	17
IMDB 4313 Netizens	15
The Movie DB Community	15
Average .. 66%	13