*Watch the movie trailer here*

Faith, Family, Freedom – my own personal motto – is what The Oath is all about. After 13 long years of surmounting obstacles and opposition, Darin Scott has finally brought this heartfelt project to the big screen. Having watched the movie on opening night as The Oath premiered in 600 theaters across the country, I can fully and unconditionally support, recommend, and applaud the film. I encourage everyone who would like more light in their life to get to the theater and watch The Oath. 

Starring Darin Scott, Billy Zane, Nora Dale, Eugene Brave Rock, and Karina Lombard, the movie is a phenomenal piece whose uplifting message is desperately needed in society. The Oath treats us to thoughtful moments, touching tragedy, more than one redemption arc, agreeable doses of religious history, well-portrayed action scenes, and tasteful romantic and familial love. It is a movie with clear lines between good and evil; a film about personal redemption and the possibility to change; a movie about morality, goodness, and the will to overcome adversity, opposition, and loss. 

The movie’s official website gives this synopsis of the film: 

“400 A.D., in a forgotten time of Ancient America, a lone Hebraic fugitive must preserve the history of his fallen nation while being hunted by a ruthless tyrant. But rescuing the King’s abused mistress could awaken a warrior’s past.” 

The Oath foregoes profanity, sex, and gratuitous violence to deliver an impactful story. Not only does it not contain lurid sex scenes, but it portrays true love – both romantic and familial – in its God-approved context of marriage. Contrary to the deluge of filth spewing from Hollywood, this movie openly promotes the virtue of chastity and the joys of marital love and parenthood. The action scenes are fun and well-choreographed and do without gruesome blood and guts. As for profanity, the movie is almost entirely clean. The group I attended the movie with had a debate about whether, near the end, the a-word was used twice or whether it was the word “arse.” It seemed to me to be the latter, which simply means “buttocks” in Old English. At any rate, refreshingly, bad language is not something you have to worry about when watching The Oath. 

The Oath takes its lead hero, Moroni, from The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Some immediately recoil when encountering anything relating to The Book of Mormon without even knowing what it is and, sadly, without judging the tree by its fruits. Regardless of your personal beliefs, faith, or convictions, The Oath is not preachy and is worth your view because it promotes goodness, light, and love – values that are sorely lacking in the world today. 

The religious elements contained in the movie are woven naturally throughout the story. We are treated to passages from the prophet Isaiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, and other ancient figures, yet they are not overtly trying to proselytize the audience. They are, rather, pieces of the movie’s scaffolding that feel right at home in the story. They also point our souls to Jesus Christ and to the idea of making sacred covenants and oaths and living with high ideals and honor. 

The Oath’s story is an important one because it deals with very human experiences like loss, longing, love, life, suffering, war, and death. Redemption is the golden thread running throughout the 104-minute runtime. Good fights evil, light challenges darkness, and Freedom battles tyranny. Perhaps the most emotional scene, which I won’t spoil, pays homage to the pro-life movement and its noble mission of saving the inestimably precious lives of God’s unborn children. 

If anyone could use more light in their life, this is the movie to watch. If anyone would like to hear more about Freedom, this is the movie to experience. If anyone wants to see family and marriage portrayed in a virtuous and approving manner, this a must-see film. If anyone needs heroes and upright role models to root for, this is the movie that should draw to the theater. 

The Oath overflows with goodness without being sappy and conveys the type of wholesome message that comes around once in a blue moon. It is also a patriotic showing that has Freedom as a running theme. Few things are timelier than a message championing Freedom, which Darin Scott has done in his personal life and which he has now brought to a national audience. 

One of the impressive parts of The Oath is its use of the Blackfoot, or Siksiká, language. Blackfoot is an American Indian language and part of the Algonquian language family. That has more than passing significance for anyone who, like me, believes in the “heartland model” of Book of Mormon geography. I saw one reviewer complain about the language portion of the movie, yet as someone who speaks multiple foreign languages and teaches language for a living, I thought this aspect of the film was particularly well done. The smooth transitions from English to Blackfoot, with a word of Hebrew thrown in, were quite enjoyable. 

Another enjoyable feature of the film is Billy Zane’s acting. The actor gives a quirky portrayal of the antagonist, the insane and bloodthirsty King Aaron. When you understand the depths of depravity of King Aaron’s soul, and the deadness of his heart, the portrayal fits well and adds to the psychotic persona. Other roles by other actors were also performed well and a lot of emotion was conveyed through non-verbal cues like facial expressions and body language. 

Though this is a low-budget film, it doesn’t feel like a cheap B-movie that doesn’t belong on the big screen. The Oath absolutely deserves the 600 theaters it is being shown in. It deserves many more, in fact. The music score was phenomenal. The cinematography was top-notch. There were many great nature shots. The action scenes were not choppy. The overall production value was high, and everything was professional. 

The only slight criticism I have of the movie is pacing. It rushes a few scenes and advances the timeline in places where I would like to see the story fleshed out more fully. It’s not enough to make the story confusing, but someone totally unfamiliar with the plot might not connect the dots at the beginning until the story is unfolded more fully later. Apart from minimal pacing challenges, there is practically nothing else I can critique in this exceptional film. 

I give The Oath 8/10 for its overall execution and a sincere 10/10 for its refreshingly good, clean, and wholesome message. The message, more than anything, is the point of the movie. It is a Christian message. It is a message of goodness. It is a message of hope, love, charity, devotion, and redemption. We all need more good in our lives and The Oath delivers. 

I hope and pray that millions will watch The Oath. It is an uncommon movie with an uncommonly good and uplifting message. If the film comes out on DVD or for download, I will be the first to purchase it. It is a film that can be watched many times and one which touches the soul. 

I give my personal testimony and sure witness, which I have from the Holy Spirit, that The Book of Mormon is inspired of God. I know it is true. Moroni was one of its chief writers 1,600 years ago. Some of the last words he wrote before his death, were these: 

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ: Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. 

“And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot” (Moroni 10:32-33). 

I repeat, I know that The Book of Mormon is another witness for Jesus Christ and that Moroni, the book’s final author who buried the record in the earth to eventually be brought forth and translated through the power of God by the Prophet Joseph Smith, was a real man and a true disciple of Jesus as depicted in The Oath. Finally, I reiterate that The Oath is a fantastic movie; that I also know. 

Zack Strong 
December 9, 2023