A Great Awakening Review

Mike and I have enjoyed many Sight & Sound productions. Despite a full schedule, we headed over to a local theater last night to watch A Great Awakening. You can still catch it through April 9, 2026.

To celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, A Great Awakening portrays the friendship between the Reverend George Whitefield and Benjamin Franklin.

The settings and acting were excellent. The flashbacks were well-placed, and did not detract from the the narrative’s flow.

One scene in the movie showed George Whitefield preaching to coal miners who hurled rocks at his head. I remember a quote I’d read of Whitefield’s: “This was the King and the Lord of glory judged by man’s judgment, when manifest in flesh: far be it from any of his ministers to expect better treatment.”

We learned about Whitefield’s and Franklin’s early years, and then were immersed in the American colonies about 40 years before the American Revolution, when the two men met. Franklin promoted Whitefield through his printing. The peak of the Great Awakening revival in America occurred from 1739 to 1742, during George Whitefield’s preaching tours.

The narrative was also set against the backdrop of the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. On June 28th, Benjamin Franklin urged the delegates to seek divine guidance, saying: “I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? ” He proposed starting each session with a prayer from local clergy. The delegates did not approve his proposal at that time, but later, a tradition was established to open legislative sessions with prayer. This is still the practice of the U.S. Congress to this day.

Here’s the trailer. Make time to see the movie if you can.

NOTES:

• TIME SENSITIVE: The movie is showing in select theaters through April 9. 2026. Find a showing on the movie’s website.
• The Whitefield quote is on Brainy Quote.
• The poster, screenshot, and trailer, are from the movie’s website, A Great Awakening.
• I found some historical information for you:
  • Dr. Ben Franklin biography (The History Channel)
  • The Reverend George Whitefield biography (Banner of Truth)
  • The Reverend George Whitefield (Britannica). If you keep scrolling, you’ll find an article on the “Great Awakening.”