Brian Dannelly and

Michael Urban

At an American religious school, teenage evangelists are ready to intervene. One girl is having doubts, the school drop-out is dropping-out and, horror of horrors, one of the guys is gay. To save her boyfriend from spiritual toxification, good-girl Mary (Jena Malone) looses her virginity in the belief that A) it will be his salvation and B) reclaimed through prayer. When he’s sent into Christian rehab and she becomes pregnant, it seems her doubts were well founded. The lapse is not lost on Mary’s tyrannical and obnoxiously righteous friend Hilary (Mandy Moore) who browbeats everyone, particularly her paraplegic brother (Macaulay Culkin), with faith. Saved! is a divine comedy perfectly formed for an age of increasing religious politicisation. It doesn’t shy from its subversive tone which has doubtless raised the ire of many, but Saved! doesn’t mock the true believer either, such as Pastor Skip’s son (Patrick Fugit) and his centrist position.

Writer / director Brian Dannelly is after bigger fish in his commentary about abusive religious faith and its inherent hypocrisy. Martin Donovan (The Opposite of Sex) is terrifically embarrassing as a cool, rapping Pastor – he’s “down with G.O.D.” – who, without a shred of humiliation is strident in his pursuit of Mary’s mother (Mary-Louise Parker). Equally enjoyable is the bitchy, self-important Moore whose belief that prayer is medically proven to work, encapsulates the satirical tone of his film. Despite a lapse into prom-night revenge at which Saved! starts to loose its way, the early promise and uplifting tone of redemption-through-love in the face of phoney reverence is blessedly refreshing. Above all, Saved! should be mandatory viewing in quasi-religious, family-friendly electoral districts.

// COLIN FRASER