This poorly written script makes a decent story less believable, even when when it's being told by decent actors. I'm not sure why I watched the entire film. I'm less sure why these actors accepted the script.

The first couple of minutes is okay. Things happen. Then there's panic. That's believable.

10 minutes in and the horrible script/acting just removes all believability.

Every single word sounded.... scripted. Almost as if the actors were reading it for the first time.

Every emotion felt fake and forced. Everyone's stance felt totally staged.

There was absolutely nothing about this film that felt genuine.

A good script with good actors draws some sort of real emotion from the viewers.

One of the absolute worst scenes was the entire bathroom scene. The lady takes the bag with her. Why? Wouldn't that seem odd to the guy? Wouldn't it be odd that she doesn't use the restroom, but immediately starts opening that noisy paper bag? Then the guy eventually makes her open the stall door. She hadn't flushed, but the guy didn't notice that she obviously hadn't used the restroom.

A good story told badly.

Another mild Christian movie is presented to an unsuspecting public, as faith film producers wring their hands and wonder why their entertainment is not connecting on a larger scale. James (Casey Fuller) gets in a fight with his girlfriend, shooting her. He and his gun flee, hiding out in a church with a pastor and his two daughters Elizabeth (Jenn Gotzon) and Naomi (Allee Sutton Hethcoat). James takes the trio hostage, and police lieutenant Morgan (Kevin Sorbo) arrives. Cell phone negotiating commences, as Morgan fights to keep his officers back, and Elizabeth starts telling James about God's capacity to forgive.

I honestly wanted to like this film, its heart seems to be in the right place, but it isn't even eighty minutes long, and there is absolutely no tension. Flenory is saddled with way too many lines about "ending this thing" to the point where it was unintentionally funny, more so when other characters mentioned "ending this." There seems to be little research into actual hostage negotiations, and it was frustrating to watch the production flounder with a small budget and uninspired script. The two stand-out performances are from Gotzon and Fuller, their scenes together generate a small amount of drama, and the film makers should have had more of that, instead of Morgan and Flenory's character pointing at the same diagram of the church for the hundredth time while background characters smile and pretend to talk on their phones. "Forgiven" falls into the same trap that a lot of Christian films fall into. They are in such a hurry to get to the message, they forget to give the audience a reason to go along for the journey.

Contains mild physical violence, mild gun violence, some adult situations.

A clear presentation of how anyone, no matter what they've done, can receive forgiveness from God. The characters of the pastor and his two daughters were excellent in their corresponding roles. Like any hostage situation, there was a lot of tension and uncertainty which was conveyed well in the film.

Jenn Gotzon delivered an emotionally riveting performance as Elizabeth.

Kevin Sorbo (Lieutenant Morgan) and Reegus Flenory (Officer Mike Rose) played their supporting roles well as law enforcement officers.

Casey Fuller portrayed a conflicted man haunted by his life choices.

Although there is always room for improvements in any film (even the big budget ones) overall this was a movie that I would certainly recommend.