Based on the New York Times Bestseller Jesus Land: A Memoir by Julia Scheeres, Jesus Land is a personal story of survival and resilience as a young daughter and her adopted siblings navigate abuse, racism, and religious extremism. The film premiered as the closing night film of the 17th annual SOHO International Film Festival on October 13. Next, it’s headed to the LA Femme International Film Festival in Los Angeles next week.
Whenever I see white families adopting Black children, there’s always a degree of hesitation that comes with it, because of stories like this. There are families with good intentions that want to make a positive impact in a child’s life. Then, there are others, seemingly like this family, who appear to adopt children for financial gain. Adopting not one, but two Black kids in the early 80s should’ve come with a litany of questions. Instead, the optics bred positive reinforcement as Hank (Bryce Johnson) and Ruth (Juliette Lewis) quickly became the prototype of what a good, honest Christian family should look like in rural Indiana.
Their daughter, Julia (Ella Anderson), was very close to her younger adopted brother David (Xavier Jones), but not so much with the elder Jermaine (Jackson Coppins). Because of his age, Jermaine could discern the family dynamics and appearance and wanted nothing to do with it. As if dealing with a family that’s not truly yours wouldn’t be stressful enough as a teenager, he had to deal with attending a majority-white school, adopted parents who practice religious extremism, and a disdain for Julia due to her favorable treatment at home.
This story isn’t the first time we’ve seen the Bible weaponized. It’s very well documented that white slave owners used piecemeal text to not only impose rule over their slaves, but convince them their obedience to serving their masters was pleasing to God. Things get even weirder after David and Julia are shipped off to Escuela Caribe Vista School, a twisted religious reform school in the Dominican Republic. Led by Bruce (Kristian Bruun), the school took extremism to another level. With kids having to ask permission to sit, stand, and even move, punishments were dealt swiftly, and it was clear that every child in attendance was miserable. One of the more painful scenes to watch (pictured below) was when Bruce called himself “disciplining” a child via fisticuffs, then praying over him while he was bleeding.
One of the latter themes in the film is that of the Troubled Teen Industry (TTI). It’s a multi-billion-dollar network of private, for-profit, and non-profit residential treatment centers. They also operate as boarding schools, boot camps, and wilderness programs. The industry faces widespread criticism and legal action over systemic abuse, lack of oversight, and financial exploitation. This is shown when Becky (Olivia Choate) complains about her low pay to Bruce while criticizing the stake of the school’s owner.
The film takes a bold jab at a plethora of topics, following the lead of the best-selling memoir. Ella and Xavier gave extremely powerful performances, and their onscreen resilience of sibling love was something to be treasured. The timeline was a bit shaky, with flashbacks occurring without warning (and often), but about halfway through, you notice a pattern. Kristian, who played the abusive religious zealot Bruce, gave a noteworthy performance that sold the turbulence of the TTI.
Jesus Land gets a 9 out of 10. Jesus Land is the type of film that defines a festival, so it’s no surprise that it closed out SOHO. Abuse, adoption, racism, and religious fanaticism take center stage in this poignant, audacious festival feature.
-Jon Jones
Photos: Courtesy of Wavefront Pictures
Country: USA
Director: Saila Kariat
Cast: Ella Anderson, Juliette Lewis, Kristian Bruun, Kelly Sullivan, Xavier Jones, Bryce Johnson, and Nikki Roumel
Runtime: 111 mins
Trailer: Watch
U.S. Release Date: October 13, 2026