Saved is a delightful little picture, almost quaint and indie like in it’s presentation, but starring up coming stars such as Mandy Moore. Moore plays an evangelical crackpot who preaches the word of the Lord like it was a fashion accessory; without which you’re nobody. Alongside her are Mary (Jena Malone), Roland (Macaulay bleeding Culkin) and Veronica (Elizabeth Thai) – the latter not being significant, except as a token ethnic character.

Mary discovers her boyfriend is gay – such an absolute sin for the right-wing nut jobs that they think people need saving from it. She pans on trying to convert him to being straight, and in light of her teachings gives herself to her boyfriend hoping he would become straight. The two brainwashed teens have no understand of sexual education (because contraception is a sin, as is sex before marriage), and so it turns out that Mary becomes pregnant. Her boyfriend, however, is sent by his parents to a Christian instituion to “fix” those who have turned to homosexuality.

Villified and bullied, and also in deep crisis of her faith, she is ousted from the leading group of evangelical bible bashers and finds comfort in the only Jewish girl at the biblical school, Cassandra (Eva Amurri), who is both scorned and a reveller in her own rebellion against the system. The two, along with Roland (who has no faith in Christianity anyway) form a bond of friendship, which ignores the intolerance of others, be it of circumstance, behaviour or ability. Hilary, in her intolerant and incessant need to be the centre of attention promises to purify all those that have fallen, which begins a war between Cassandra, Mary and herself.

I think everyone, yes even Mr Culkin, were brilliant in their performances

This film is basically about intolerance and the extremes of which the religious right expect people to go to. It’s better to deny reality than to face it, and the selective nature in which the bible is used in the film is also referential outside of the film.

Religion or beliefs which express any form of extreme are perfectly acceptable, but to execute those views by supressing the beliefs and wishes of others; to ostracise, and subject those who don’t believe to ridiculous pressure and guilt them into religion or a belief, is simply unacceptable. The film is simply brilliant at creating a pastiche of the far right religious cranks that would have good Christians believe that it is a sin to do anything that does not fit into their narrow-minded, filtered version of the bible inside of their heads. Hypocrisy, as I often say, reigns supreme and this is as equally applicable to any other religion with fundamentalists ideals.

I think everyone, yes even Mr Culkin, were brilliant in their performances. Be it a distraught and pregnant girl with her conflict of interest, or the evangelist who behave more like an aggressive sales person (close that sale for GOD!). I don’t know much who Mandy Moore is to be honest, but her performance as the calculating, manipulative wench was fantastic, and certainly is an interesting actress to keep an eye on. I wonder, however, if she’ll be type cast in satarical or teen comedies, rather than expanding her role in more serious performances. Michael Stipe’s input is also present, as it has that soft, tongue-in-cheek (no pun intended) feel to it, and the choice of music and has a Stipe like quality to it. Perhaps I made all of that up, but you can see hiw input as a producer, and no doubt a film that is important to his own beliefs.

As a message of intolerance in general, it’s great. The sacharrine ending is a little to convenient for me, but I guess they were trying to create a film where the majority is a message of hypocrisy by the evangelical Christians, while at the same time giving that “let’s try to get along” message so that they aren’t castrated for being wholly negative. Technically these people are not model examples of how someone should lead their lives, but I think that’s part of the point – the rule of free will (within limits), and regardless of your belief system for which no one should be demonised.

Verdict: Exceptionally funny and satarical piece on religion gone nuts.