Film
Faith Like Potatoes
A Zimbabwean farmer and his family flee political upheaval for South Africa, only to face devastating loss that drives him toward faith and spiritual transformation. Grounded, earnest, sometimes sentimental—this is genuine-article Christian drama, not a sermon. For those moved by stories of resilience, redemption, and how tragedy can reshape a life.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like patient, earnest family stories rooted in a real man's stubborn faith, where hardship is met with small practical gestures and a warm, unhurried sense of place.
Skip it if you are wary of earnest, faith-driven storytelling, since its sincerity is unapologetic and its sentiment runs warm and often on the nose.
What it asks of you: Settle in for just under two hours at an unhurried pace, with long stretches of landscape and domestic detail that let the family's hardship sink in gradually.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Shack2017
A father grapples with divine purpose after tragedy, exploring faith through intimate, searching dialogue rather than judgment. Asks hard questions about suffering with real tenderness.
But The theology is specifically Christian and unambiguous. Some find the film's tone saccharine, and it doesn't pretend to philosophical neutrality.

Fireproof2008
A firefighter's marriage is crumbling until faith and commitment reshape his priorities. Character-driven, unglamorous about doubt, and genuinely moves people who connect with its worldview.
But Dialogue can feel didactic. If you're not receptive to explicit Christian messaging, the film will feel like a 2-hour conversation you didn't choose.

The Case for Christ2017
A skeptical journalist investigates Christianity to disprove his wife's conversion and discovers something unexpected. Intelligent, respectful of both doubt and belief, with real dramatic tension.
But Familiar conversion-story arc. Some of the investigation feels streamlined for narrative convenience rather than authentic complexity.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Faith Like Potatoes
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Last Temptation of Christ1988
Both films centre faith as transformation through crisis, but where *Faith Like Potatoes* finds redemption in acceptance, *Temptation* locates it in radical questioning and human vulnerability.
Scorsese's radically human Christ wrestles with doubt, fear, and desire throughout his ministry—faith is anguish, not certainty. Visionary cinema that takes theology seriously as existential struggle.
But Profoundly provocative to Christian viewers. Slow, hallucinatory, sometimes glacially paced. Controversial not as entertainment but as intellectual challenge.

More like this (7)
Risen2016
A Roman soldier investigates the Resurrection with a detective's eye. Reframes faith as a mystery to be solved rather than received, which makes it feel fresher than most faith-based drama.
But The historical setting can't quite escape theatrical staging. Pacing drags in the middle hour.

I Can Only Imagine2018
A young musician's fraught relationship with his father ruptures—and out of grief and reconciliation comes a song that changes millions of lives. Specific, tender, about how art can be testimony.
But The film works overtime to make the father sympathetic, which softens the real anger and damage. Leans heavily on sentiment.

War Room2015
A woman discovers the power of prayer to transform her marriage and family. Unafraid to show marital collapse and spiritual struggle as simultaneous, messy processes.
But Three hours. The dialogue often preaches rather than reveals. Some characters feel like mouthpieces rather than people with contradictions.

Heaven Is for Real2014
A pastor's son claims to have visited heaven after surgery. Explores faith through a father's protective love and his struggle to know what he believes when confronted with his child's conviction.
But The film is genuinely uncertain whether to take the boy's account literally or metaphorically, which creates tonal confusion rather than depth.

Courageous2011
Follows four men—police officers and friends—reckoning with fatherhood and what faith demands of them. Honest about male vulnerability without sacrificing action-film pacing.
But Two hours forty minutes for what could be a character study. Heavy-handed in places and sometimes confuses instruction with drama.

Woodlawn2015
A gifted high-school football player embraces faith during the racially fractured 1970s, using sport as a bridge between communities. Sports film meets spiritual awakening without cheapening either.
But The film's view of faith as a solution to racism is inspiring but simplified. The football sequences are routine.

Stalker1979
Both unfold as spiritual journeys where external travel maps internal transformation; both ask whether faith is what we find or what we become searching.
Tarkovsky's philosophical science fiction follows a man guiding others through a mysterious zone toward a room that grants wishes—a profound meditation on desire, belief, and what we're really seeking.
But 160 minutes of contemplative, almost static cinema. Virtually no plot momentum. Demands patience and surrenders nothing to comfort.

People
Cast
Frank RautenbachAngus Buchan
Jeanne NeilsonJill Buchan
Hamilton DlaminiSimeon
Sean Cameron MichaelFergus Buchan- Tom Miles18 month old Fergie
Directing
- Regardt van den BerghDirector
Writing
- Angus BuchanBook
- Regardt van den BerghWriter
Production
- Frans CronjéProducer