More than twenty years ago, Alex and Stephen Kendrick helped make a little movie called Flywheel with a church, a small budget, volunteer actors, and an idea that seemed improbable: perhaps Christians didn’t have to wait for Hollywood to tell the stories they wanted to see.
What followed was one of the more remarkable stories in modern faith-based filmmaking.
Facing the Giants. Fireproof. Courageous. War Room. Overcomer. Show Me the Father. Lifemark. The Forge.
In this Chesterton Radio Deep Dive, we revisit the Kendrick Brothers’ films from the beginning—what worked, what didn’t, how the filmmaking improved, why critics and audiences have so often disagreed about them, and how themes of integrity, marriage, fatherhood, prayer, identity and discipleship developed across more than two decades.
We also look ahead to 2026’s Flywheel: Ignition of the Soul, a Brazilian reimagining of the film that started everything. Rather than simply making another American Christian movie for an international audience, the Kendricks are helping filmmakers in another culture tell the story in their own language and setting. It raises an intriguing possibility: perhaps the next chapter isn’t simply more Kendrick Brothers films, but passing the model itself to others.
About Chesterton Radio
Chesterton Radio is an independent home for great stories, old radio, literature, drama, faith, history, cultural deep dives, and new original programming. We explore the things worth preserving—and try to create a few new things worth passing along.
Alongside programs like this one, Chesterton Radio produces original stories and dramas, Daybreak, Listen with Gilbert, Saturday Night Theatre Companion, The New Adventures of Peter Rabbit, ROOK, and other programs inspired by the great tradition of intelligent, imaginative radio.
And the radio itself never closes. Chesterton Radio’s Open Door live stream broadcasts 24 hours a day, bringing together classic programs, stories, music, drama, and original Chesterton Radio productions.
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