Peter Lone likes to live life in the fast lane.
He’s a drug runner, delivering cocaine worldwide, scoring millions of dollars. He drives a Ferrari, has a beautiful fiancée and a private jet.
He was warned before he went to Indonesia that the country has a zero-tolerance policy on drug-dealing. He was told he’d receive the death penalty if he got caught.
But Peter thinks he’s invincible. He’s been running drugs for five years now, and he’s never been caught—never even suspected.
Perhaps he should have listened when his partner, Morgan Davis, suggested they get out of the drug trade.
Now, Peter is stuck in a rundown prison in Bali. He has indeed been given a death sentence. And the president of Indonesia is refusing to grant him a pardon. The politician believes that if he releases Peter, it will send the wrong message to other drug dealers—that they’ll start bringing more drugs into the country under the assumption that they can just buy their way out of the death penalty, too.
Peter, for his part, certainly doesn’t want to die. But he’s oddly at peace about it.
Since he came to prison, Peter has lost his money, his car, his fiancée—even his best friend, Morgan, since the man was sent to a different prison. Now, he’s facing the reality of losing his life as well.
But it’s just like the Good Book says, sometimes you must lose your life to find it …
While in prison, Peter is transformed into a new man after accepting Jesus Christ. We’ll cover more of the faith aspects of this transformation in Spiritual Elements. But in short, Peter’s outlook completely changes. He stops complaining about his lot in life. And he admits he’s done wrong and possibly even deserves the punishment he’s been given.
His positive attitude and courage—as well as the courage of other Christians—influences Miriam (a woman he eventually marries) prisoners and guards alike.
Early on, Peter scoffs at the idea of God, mocks it even. He had a rough upbringing, since his dad died when he was just a kid. He says his brother believes in God but still has cancer. And he doesn’t understand why God would allow these things to happen if He exists. Others share this sentiment, bringing up a litany of bad things that have occurred in their own lives as an excuse to reject God.
Peter is sent to solitary confinement with no food or water for four days after back talking the warden. While there, Pastor Lynbrook, a fellow prisoner who became a Christian after getting arrested, offers Peter a Bible.
Although Peter had rejected Lynbrook’s attempts to share the Gospel before, he accepts the Bible and begins to read it. He’s overcome by the Holy Spirit as he reads John 3:16, finally understanding the passage, and he invites Jesus into his life.
From that moment on, Peter is a new man. He’s overjoyed with gratitude to God for saving his life. He’s at peace with death because he knows he’ll be with Jesus in heaven. And even though he knows he’ll still die, he tries in earnest to lead other prisoners to Christ—including the prison guards keeping him captive.
He apologizes to Liu Fat, a fellow prisoner he’d worked with in the drug trade, believing it’s his own fault that Liu got pulled into drug running to begin with. He also apologizes to Captain Tanu, the prison warden. Peter and Tanu had been at odds from the moment he got arrested. Each man had tried to break the other, hurling insults and even getting into physical altercations. But Peter realizes that Tanu and the other guards are just trying to do their jobs. And he tells them that he forgives them for what they must do.
Several men are led to Christ through Peter and Lynbrook’s examples. When one man tries to thank Lynbrook for saving him, the pastor is careful to attribute the man’s salvation to the Holy Spirit, not himself. And Lynbrook says he’s grateful to have been used for God’s will. Peter encourages his successor (who worries he won’t be able to lead after Peter is gone) to have faith in God—to trust Him to soften the hearts of their fellow prisoners.
John 12:24, John 3:16, John 14:27 and Romans 8:28 are all quoted. And we see a few people clinging to the words of Romans—that all things work together for the good of those who love God. A man says that because of his newfound faith, the worst day of his life (the day of his execution) will now be the best. Peter is amazed by God’s mercy—that He would allow man into heaven because of His love for us.
Peter is offered his freedom if he will deny Christ. But he refuses.
Drug dealers say cocaine is like God to their clients. When a prisoner says, “God help me,” Tanu mocks the man, saying that he is the man’s god now.
Before they are arrested, Morgan tells Peter he feels guilty for their crimes. He says he was raised in a Christian home and that their current worldly lifestyle feels meaningless.
The prison chapel has a few crosses on display. A man prays the rosary. Someone says his father was a pastor.
[Spoiler warning] Three men face firing squads with their heads held high because of their faith in God. They know they are going to a better place—to see Jesus. One man dies with his Bible in his hand, trying to evangelize his fellow inmate right until the moment of death. Two others sing “Amazing Grace” as they’re led out of the prison, inspiring other prisoners and guards to sing along. The guards impacted by these men initially disobey the order to execute them. Although they eventually carry out the task, the man who gave the order regrets it, coming to Christ himself shortly after.
Before Peter is arrested, he and Morgan hang out with several women who wear formfitting and cleavage-baring outfits. A teen girl in the background of a scene wears a cropped top. We see a man’s bare chest briefly.
Peter seemingly lives with his fiancée, and she asks him if they can have a baby together (a request that is harshly rejected). The pair splits after Peter goes to prison.
After Peter comes to Christ, he falls in love with Miriam, a volunteer who prays at the prison with her church group. The two eventually wed and hug a couple of times.
A man says he learned his girlfriend cheated on him.
A few men are killed offscreen by firing squads. These are intense scenes, with some men sobbing profusely and begging for their lives before the order is coldly given to execute them. We see the corpses of two men after.
Armed guards roughly handle inmates. Peter gets slapped across the face, punched in the gut and kicked by prison guards. Peter and Liu start to fight. They’re pulled apart by guards, but Peter threatens to kill Liu. Tanu hits a guard with his own weapon offscreen after the man accidentally lets some prisoners escape.
One inmate says he was arrested after killing the man his girlfriend had an affair with.
Tanu tells Peter that suicide would be too good for him. Peter responds crassly, suggesting that violence arouses Tanu.
A woman explains that her father took his own life when she was 12. We hear a man’s wife died of cancer two years into their marriage. Another man says his father died of a heart attack.
Jesus’ name is misused once.
Although Peter is a drug dealer, we don’t see any drug use onscreen. We briefly see a package of cocaine in a backpack.
Indonesia’s president takes such a hard stance on the drug trade because he’s trying to protect his people from drug overdoses, which he notes is common in the countries the drug dealers come from.
People drink wine and hard liquor on a few occasions.
Before Peter’s transformation, his lifestyle reflects a different worldview. He loves to make lots of money, gamble, drink and, as I said at the outset, live life in the fast lane. He lies repeatedly, even to himself. And he gets other people into trouble with him when he’s arrested.
Tanu is cruel to prisoners, sending them to solitary confinement with no food or water for days on end for the slightest infractions. He calls prisoners “maggots,” emphasizing that he thinks they are worthless and trying to make them even more miserable than they already are.
Peter calls his fiancée “stupid” after she suggests he trade his expensive car for something more practical so they can start a family. She’s insulted elsewhere by Tanu.
We hear a few joking comments about race.
Some folks make a prison break.
The Firing Squad is based on true events. In 2015, the Indonesian government executed eight prisoners for drug-smuggling. But before they died, all eight came to Christ. And they went out singing praises to God.
Those events are reflected here (albeit through mostly fictional characters). And Christian audiences will be moved by the courage Peter, Lynbrook and their friend, Samuel, display even as they’re marched to their deaths.
Each man admits he had to lose his life before he could find it again in Christ. Each man is ready and willing to face the punishment for his crimes here on Earth. And each of them finds peace in the Holy Spirit, taking on the attitude of Christ even as they face death.
The Firing Squad truly shows how God can transform us into new creatures—and how His love can sustain us even in the worst of circumstances.
That said, families with younger children may want to exercise some caution. The themes here can be heavy—especially the scenes involving the firing squads. We don’t see any bloodshed onscreen, but the leadup to these executions is intense and could be upsetting for more sensitive viewers.
But if you have older teens who are prepared for these tough topics, you’ll find a film that dramatically demonstrates faith in action. Characters in the movie ask why anyone would believe in a God who would allow a man to be put to death. But the response is clear: Because the joy and peace we find in Jesus Christ surpasses all earthly things. And better to lose one’s life for Christ than to live a single day without Him.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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