Heists never go according to plan.
That’s the moral of Noah’s recent story, a tale we might call, How I Ended Up at Deer Run Christian Camp.
You see, Noah and his gang broke into a man’s office to steal a video game console that allegedly contains some super important secrets coded inside. But when Noah is spotted by a police officer, his gang abandons him, driving off after Noah hands them the console. And Noah can’t get in trouble anymore, because if he’s caught, then he’ll be shipped off to juvie.
Fortunately, while escaping the cop, he runs into his social worker, who looks surprised to see that he actually showed up to hop on the bus and go to the camp. Well, he didn’t mean to, but it’ll help him escape his current situation.
So that’s how Noah ended up at a Christian summer camp surrounded by a bunch of overly chipper people who can’t seem to take the hint that Noah doesn’t want to talk to them. At least attending the camp will give him some time to lay low and maybe put a gold star on his record.
Because it won’t be long before his gang realizes that the console Noah handed them wasn’t the console they were after.
Noah brought it with him to summer camp.
A counselor named Jake mentors Noah. Despite Noah’s angry and standoffish attitude, Jake doesn’t give up on trying to get through to Noah. Jake believes no one is beyond help. In part, that’s because Jake was very similar to Noah, and his life was changed by another person who similarly reached out to him.
Jake also sticks up for another camper who’s been bullying Noah. While Jake says he cannot excuse the boy’s behavior, he stops Noah and others from gossiping about the boy, since they don’t know anything about the hard life he’s had. Instead, Jake works to help the two resolve their differences and practice forgiveness.
We hear a bunch of vague references to Christianity but few explicit references, as Jesus is never mentioned at all. For instance, Jake references Jesus’ parable of the sower to Noah, but he uses the parable as a way to tell Noah that he (the soil) should open up to the help of others around him (the seed); in the context of the actual parable, however, the seed is clearly the Word of God (Luke 8:11).
When Jake asks Noah if he wants to know the one thing that can fill the void in Noah’s heart, Noah storms out before we hear the answer (though we later see Noah enter a church to meet Jake, who says that church was the answer). A sign in the background of one scene references Alistair Begg’s famous quote regarding the thief on the cross: “The man on the middle cross told me I could come.”
People pray for Noah’s safety. Jake tells Noah that he prays for others.
One girl, Mallory, develops a bit of a summer camp crush on Noah, though nothing comes of it. A man uses a pick-up line on an uninterested woman.
When Noah’s old gang eventually figures out where he is and comes to get him, the campers engage in tactics similar to those found in Home Alone. To that end, the gang members fall on their faces and backs. They have swinging rocks slammed into their crotches, and one is likewise shot in the crotch with a paintball gun. Furthermore, they’re attacked by “murder hornets” and fall into a pit. One has to have leeches ripped off his face. After they capture one boy, they threaten to bash his face in with a rock.
Jake tells a campfire story about the camp’s dog, Lazarus, being electrocuted, which is why he claims the dog and its master dislike electronic devices. Noah and another camp nearly break into a fight. The camper pelts Noah with food, starting a food fight.
We hear some very mild interjections, such as “dang” or “oh my gosh.”
None.
Noah steals a couple items, and he runs from a police officer. A joke is made about urination. One camper makes fun of Noah and decides to bully him when the camp counselors pay Noah special interest. Campers engage in Home Alone tactics rather than going to an adult for help when dangerous criminals attempt to hurt Noah.
Camp Hideout is a standard-issue summer camp film about a jaded boy who breaks out of his shell when he sees that people really care for him.
For those who’ve attended a summer camp, what you see onscreen just might bring back a memory or two of your own time at camp—goofy gang members hopefully not included. And if you’re you wonder whether or not those vengeful gang members are just as gullible as Harry and Marv from Home Alone, really about the worst it gets is one threat about smashing in a child’s face with a rock.
And yeah, that threat is quite violent. But the movie’s content is otherwise pretty tame. It even takes a few moments to make a reference or two to a Christian belief—although these feel more like handwaved afterthoughts, which is a bit of a shame for a movie that takes place at a Christian camp.
All in all, no need to hide away from Camp Hideout.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
