Review: ‘Down the Arm of God’ is a Chilling True Story from Texas
by Alex Billington
August 17, 2026
“Our God is an awesome God! He reigns from heaven above, with wisdom, power and love…” But will his followers preach that same love to all? Will they follow the teachings of Jesus and take care of the poor and vulnerable, just like he did? Some Christian Americans might answer these questions with an emphatic: no. This is a tricky topic to talk about and even trickier to depict carefully & accurately in a film. It’s not trying to ruffle feathers, it’s meant to share an honest story about how bigoted people can be nowadays. I’m glad this film not only nails the depiction, it does so with grace and humility and understanding and courage. And with heaps of authenticity, which is mighty important telling this story. Down the Arm of God is a film starring and produced and co-written by Caleb Landry Jones, who worked with Austrian filmmaker Peter Brunner for 5 years to research, develop, prepare, and shoot this film. It just premiered at the 2026 Locarno Film Festival, where a few of Brunner’s films have shown before, and I hope it reaches audiences will beyond the fests. Above all, this needs to be seen by Americans. It’s a conversation starter, something to make you think, not provide specific answers – make you wonder how we can better take care of all people.
If you’ve been following the news recently, this is a story you’ve heard many times in many different cities in America (and around the whole world). Caleb Landry Jones stars as Nick, a young pastor with a homeless father of his own, who packs his things into his barely-running car & drives into a dusty little town in Texas to begin his new job giving sermons at the local church. Situated outside of Amarillo, Texas, even though he’s devout like all of them, he’s still an outsider to this place. This is their town and they like it the way it is. Not long after he gets cozy in his new home provided by the church, he discovers a homeless encampment nearby. Nick does what a good pastor is supposed to do, attempting to help them, and decides to encourage the local townspeople to help in any way they can, too. At first he sets up a potluck, to help them with food and other items. When a dangerous winter storm rolls in, he decides to take it further and do more to save them from freezing to death. So he lets them inside the church. Even though it is not a permanent solution, it’s exactly what Jesus would’ve done and it’s the right thing to do to save people that might die if they don’t do something. Of course, this pisses off almost all of the locals, and the next thing you know there is a war brewing. Eventually the anger becomes hostile. Even though Nick is overwhelmed & under attack, he is still trying to find out out how he can help these unhoused people and figure out something long-term for them.
Even though the filmmakers may downplay it when talking in public, it’s pretty obvious what is going on in this story and why they’re telling it. It’s not just about helping the homeless, it’s not just about compassion and care for all human beings of all walks of life, it’s about hostility and hate and bigotry flourishing among people who claim to follow the Bible. And this depiction isn’t one-sided either. There’s frustration and anger and problems and worries from both sides, from everyone. Pushback is expected from unhoused individuals when they’re almost always treated with contempt & scorn. This is why it should be inspiring and reassuring and just downright beautiful to see someone actually trying to make a difference. Brunner & Landry Jones craft this film with an intense hyper-realism with the characters and narrative, while keeping it cinematic with the performances and cinematography. There are times watching this where I could’ve sworn they went into a Texas town and had “Nick” confront a group of real locals with his concerns in order to capture their real bitterness on camera. There’s a few scenes that are jaw-dropping accurate with folks hootin’ & hollerin’ about safe spaces for their kids & bad outsiders! It even gets racist, because of course it does, yet the entire town defends its own. Nick is the bad guy because he came in here and did all this and riled them up? That realism creates a chilling atmosphere that makes this film into a thriller more than just a true story drama.
The are numerous challenges that come with telling this kind of prickly story: not making it too cheesy or too preachy, not making it one-sided or overly negative about anyone involved, not making it too saccharine or heroic, while also making it cinematic & engaging enough to actually be watchable. While the film doesn’t go too far into the same realm as Ken Loach’s social realism, it gets close, though thankfully stays cinematic thanks to two major aspects: Peter Flinckenberg excellent cinematography that stays distant almost like a fly-on-the-wall documentary at times. And of course Caleb Landry Jones’ remarkable performance. He’s reserved when he needs to be, but also lets out all the emotions when needs to, taking on this character ever so wonderfully with a delicate and honest and meaningful performance. I’m always impressed by his work, but here you can especially feel for him and what he’s depicting with Nick. It’s interesting this film is made by a French production company (Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp) and filmed by an Austrian director, instead of it being a homegrown American movie. Maybe that’s the only way they could make it this accurately, maybe that’s the only way they could freely tell this story about how rotten some Americans can be towards others who need their help. Along with the other homeless film Urchin by Harris Dickinson, these stories are ever more important to tell. Hopefully they’ll reach some of these folks who have much to learn about humanity.
Alex’s Rating: 8 out of 10
Follow Alex on Twitter – @firstshowing / Or Letterboxd – @firstshowing
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