Sincere debut

Full-length feature film reaches thousands via YouTube | Marvin Olasky

Can a movie make money on the internet? Can sincerity sell?

Last month three independent filmmakers who are all professing Christians—Adam Browne, Brendan Choisnet, and Daniel Nayeri—premiered their full-length feature, The Cult of Sincerity, not in theaters or video stores but on YouTube. By May 16 the site (youtube.com/watch?v=YnsLBEuqsYE) had received over 22,000 hits.

The film's premise is terrific. Its 20-something main character sees cynicism and unhappiness among his poseur peers and discerns rightly that irony does not sharpen irony. Urban but not urbane, he oozes sincerity as he decides to spend his days helping people he doesn't know. In the process, though, he sometimes misses opportunities to be kind to friends.