William Reynolds is a cold-hearted assassin who works for the British East India Company during the cusp of the American Revolution. When William decides to quit, he is faced with life-threatening opposition from his boss. After escaping the clutches of his maniacal boss, William falls in love with Charlotte Holloway. He begins to learn that although he desire it, change can only come from God. "Beyond the Mask' hit theaters on Friday, June 5. The action drama film was rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America.
PluggedIn rated the film 4/5. IMDb rated the film 6.7/10 taken from 207 users. Its overall Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes is 91% with an average rating of 4.5/5 taken from 741 user ratings. The film is rated 30% on the Tomatometer with an average of 6/10 taken from 10 reviews. The film received 3 Fresh reviews and 7 Rotten Reviews. The film runs for 1 hour and 58 minutes. Box Office Mojo reports that the film made $1,057,634.66 as of Wednesday, June 10.
"Only God can give us new lives," says Charlotte in the film.
"Beyond the Mask' stars Andrew Cheney as William Reynolds/The Highwayman, John Rhys-Davies as Charles Kemp, Kara Killmer as Charlotte Holloway, Adetokumboh M'Cormack as Joshua Brand, Thomas D. Mahard as Dr. Harrow, Alan Madlane as Ben Franklin, John Arden McClure as George Washington, and Charlie Newhart as Jeremiah Flack.
"I hope Beyond the Mask can be a story that triggers thoughts about forgiveness in its audiences, prompting questions about it. And then maybe to come to similar conclusions. Because apart from faith in Christ, you can't earn redemption," said screenwriter Paul McCusker in an interview with PluggedIn.
The film was directed by Chad Burns and produced by Aaron Burns. It was edited by Mike Wech and written by Paul McCusker. Cinematography is by Ethan Ledden. The film's production company is Burns Family Studios. Gathr Films distributed the film to over 100 movie theaters in the United States. The $4 million budget film features music by Jurgen Beck.
Film Reviews:
"Beyond the various Left Behind flicks, Christian moviemakers rarely venture into the spiritually uncharted territory of action/adventure. But Beyond the Mask fearlessly climbs up on the same stage as National Treasure and Zorro with a story that's two parts historical fiction, one part romance and one part Sunday school flannelgraph lesson," wrote Adam R. Holz from PluggedIn.
"This action film set against the months leading up to the Revolutionary War has the same strong visual effects, story and action sequences of films with 10 times the budget," wrote Rick Bentley from Fresno Bee.
"The sort of action adventure a Born Again Quentin Tarantino might make," wrote Kam Williams from Baret News.
"A drama of redemption by way of an American Revolution history lesson, Chad Burns' action-adventure yarn offers little in the way of subtlety or surprise," wrote Justin Chang from Variety.
"Even if some of its history and buckles are askew, the film is still an original take on a Christian redemption story," wrote Marjorie Baumgaten from Austin Chronicle.
"Beyond the Mask lacks the wit or excitement to truly come off, though it is intriguing enough to make you hope this team gets to make more films, perhaps spending more money on screenwriting as they do," wrote Roger Moore from Tribune News Service.
"The faith-based impetus behind this redemptive, family-friendly, American Revolution-era yarn is placed front and center amid all the digitally assisted derring-do and skulduggery," wrote Michael Rechtshaffen from The Los Angeles Times.
