More than two decades after “Flywheel” launched the filmmaking ministry of Alex and Stephen Kendrick, the Christian filmmakers are returning to the story that started it all, but this time through the eyes of a new generation of believers thousands of miles away.
“Flywheel: Ignition of the Soul,” a Brazilian reimagining of the Kendricks’ 2003 debut film, will hit theaters nationwide Oct. 16. Set in Rio de Janeiro and originally filmed in Portuguese, the movie will be dubbed in English for its U.S. theatrical release.
For Alex Kendrick, whose subsequent films include “Facing the Giants,” “Fireproof,” “Courageous,” “War Room,” “Overcomer” and “The Forge,” revisiting “Flywheel” after 20 years offered an opportunity to both improve upon the modest production values of the original and invest in the next generation of Christian filmmakers.
“Twenty years ago, ‘Flywheel’ was our first movie. We didn’t really know what we were doing production-wise,” Kendrick told The Christian Post. “We just had a good story, and the Lord did more than we could have ever asked or imagined.”
The original film, produced with limited resources through Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, centered on a dishonest used-car salesman whose life begins to change when he surrenders his business and personal life to God.
Kendrick, who, with his brother, frequently emphasizes that he seeks to make movies to equip the Church, said the filmmakers initially made the movie for their local community, never anticipating how widely it would spread.
“We gave it to Him. We made it for our community, and it blew up, sold over a million DVDs, and so many people were responding to it,” he said. “We were just floored.”
“Now, we get to invest in young Christian filmmakers in another country in their own language,” Kendrick added. “The story worked, but the production budget was low. Now it looks beautiful, and these actors that we’ve got in Brazil are so good, and they love the Lord.”
The partnership grew out of the unexpected success of the Kendricks’ 2024 film “The Forge” in Brazil, where Kendrick said the discipleship-focused drama reached No. 1 at the box office and received enthusiastic support from churches. The response prompted an invitation for Kendrick and his brother, Stephen, to travel to Brazil and train aspiring Christian filmmakers.
“They do not commonly make Christian films, and they saw this as a real effective avenue to reach their country,” Kendrick said.
The brothers held a weeklong filmmaking “boot camp,” teaching roughly 65 young filmmakers about everything from casting to production while emphasizing the prayer and spiritual preparation that have long shaped the Kendricks’ approach.
When the Brazilian filmmakers asked whether they could make a movie together, Kendrick said “Flywheel” immediately came to mind. Almost immediately, the funding and distribution pieces came together.
“We had already for some time wanted to remake Flywheel,” he said. “So we said, ‘Would you like to help us remake ‘Flywheel?’ They jumped at the chance. … When the Lord opened the door that wide, we walked through it.”
The resulting film follows Noah Silva, a charismatic used-car salesman whose willingness to do whatever it takes to succeed begins damaging his business, marriage and relationship with his son. Forced to confront his choices, Noah begins reassessing his priorities and seeking to rebuild his life around his faith.
The central theme of the film is lordship, reflected in Noah’s gradual realization that his marriage, fatherhood, business and friendships cannot revolve around himself.
“He has to figure out: Am I in charge, in the driver’s seat, or am I going to trust the Lord?” Kendrick said. “He starts seeing his marriage with new eyes, his role as father [with] new eyes, businessman [with] new eyes, his friendships with new eyes. He begins realizing, man, Lord, I have been viewing this so selfishly, where everything is about me.”
While the location and cultural context have changed, Kendrick said the underlying struggles remain essentially the same. Early screenings, the filmmaker said, have left viewers recognizing elements of their own lives in the characters.
“The message of integrity is timeless,” he said, noting that marriage difficulties, parenting struggles and ethical challenges in business cross cultural and generational boundaries.
“We love it when people see common issues in marriage, common hurdles in business, common obstacles in being a good parent, because they relate to all of those things today as much as ever,” he continued. “[Viewers are] in tears and they’re inspired, and they’re like, ‘Wow, we have dealt with that. We paint the picture of how God can walk with you through those. And it’s already having an impact. We’re so grateful.”
At the center of “Flywheel: Ignition of the Soul” is the biblical concept of surrender, something Kendrick described as “releasing control, releasing your hope in anything else, and putting that solely in the Lord is very difficult.”
“To say, ‘Lord, I’m releasing my logic, I’m releasing my hope, my personal efforts to fix these things, and I’m trusting you with it.’ And to do that takes a lot of faith,” he said. “I need the Lord to remind me, Alex, walk in surrender. The Lord is so much greater than I am. He can figure things out if I just trust Him.”
Kendrick reflected on how, as a young filmmaker, he’d envisioned producing an impressive movie, and when the finished product failed to match those expectations, he was embarrassed.
“I wasn’t proud of it,” he said.
But the team had “bathed it in prayer,” asking God to accomplish through the film what they could not accomplish themselves, and opportunities began to appear, from Blockbuster picking up the video to Christian TV airing it.
“I was floored because I knew it was not from any skill I had or the production value,” Kendrick said. “It was the story [that] pricked their hearts and inspired them. “I said, ‘God, you did this. You did this. I could not have done this.’ To watch what God did initially, and to watch what He’s still doing today, is what’s so amazing.”
Kendrick said he’d tell his younger self, “Humble yourself,” adding: “No one’s going to come see this movie because of you. They’re not going to come because they think Alex Kendrick is such a great filmmaker. Walk in confidence in the Lord, not yourself, and watch what the Lord does,” he said.
“I needed the Lord to show me, ‘Alex, I want to use you, but I don’t need you,'” he said. “God doesn’t need me. He just wants to use us to bear fruit.”
According to the filmmaker, that lesson became even more important as the Kendrick Brothers’ films grew from a local church production into theatrical releases reaching audiences around the world.
Since launching their career two decades ago, the Kendrick brothers have accumulated numerous film awards, bestselling books and some unusually strong box-office milestones. “War Room,” filmed on a $3 million budget, was released by Sony in just over 1,500 theaters. It earned $27.9 million in just two weekends and eventually grossed $74 million worldwide.
Citing Jesus’ warning in Matthew 6 against performing good works to receive praise from others, Kendrick said he gradually came to see success as faithfulness.
“Success is not me getting a trophy, notoriety, or some status,” Kendrick said. “That cannot be success, and that is what I was hungry for early on. Success is me bearing fruit that God wants me to bear and honoring the Lord and drawing people to the Lord.”
“I can’t do it with the goal being just to glorify myself or get some award,” he said. “For me, dying to myself and … surrendering things to God is something that I needed to learn, and I’m very, very grateful for that today.”
And as Christian entertainment has grown in both reach and production quality, Kendrick said faith-based filmmakers, musicians and authors face the temptation to pursue excellence while also pursuing personal recognition.
“From Christian music, Christian authors, Christian filmmakers, all of them, you want to grow in excellence while humbling yourself,” Kendrick said. “What did the devil do wrong? He sought glory for himself. What we do wrong is follow the world’s model of, ‘ Hey, do excellent at something, and then chase glory for yourself.”‘
“You need the favor of God on your project. You need the presence of the Lord walking with you,” he added. “Whatever you’ve gifted me to do, help me do it with a growing level of excellence as unto you, not just to glorify myself. If they can get there, we’re going to make an even bigger impact.”
The Kendricks are also extending the film’s message beyond theaters with The Flywheel: Ignition of the Soul Bible Study, scheduled to be released Oct. 6.
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: [email protected]
