God Is a Bullet (2023) User Reviews

Flawed but brutally awesome

[FeastMode · 7/10 · 26 July 2023]

Wow, I didn't expect that.

First off, make sure you watch the original version of this movie that was released in theaters. It's 2 hours and 35 minutes. There is a censored version out there that's only 2 hours long. The parts they removed for violence/gore were some of the most shocking (in a good way) moments in the movie.

And they remove entire subplots that are important to the story and character decisions. I see a lot of people complaining that it doesn't make sense or is disjointed. That's what happens when you strip away 22% of a movie.

God is a Bullet is far from perfect and not everything works. But there is so much that does work. I was fully invested and never bored through this longer runtime. There are multiple jaw-dropping moments and crazy scenes.

And it never feels like it's holding back. People who are easily triggered might not be able to handle it, and I don't mean that as an insult. But I like my movies not to have limitations and am annoyed with how often studios play it safe with PG-13 movies.

The whole cast does a good job, but Maika Monroe shines. And Jonathan Tucker always has small roles but always kills it. He fully transforms into his character.

I had a great time with this movie and would watch it again. It took me on an emotional ride and I wish I chose to see this in theaters. (1 viewing, 7/25/2023)

Yes and no.

[bombersflyup · 6/10 · 10 November 2023]

In God Is a Bullet, detective Bob Hightower tries to infiltrate an evil cult to save his kidnapped daughter and avenge the murder of his wife.

The film has good cinematography and strong acting, with a weighty story, however it's more style over substance. In particular the dialogue could be better, as the characters are kinda without thoughts and it's severely lacking in detail for the long runtime. Like for instance how they all locate each other all the time. So at the end does Bob and his daughter just go back to living in their home, with the psychotic villain still out there... no idea.

depends

[imizrahi2002 · 6/10 · 1 August 2023]

On what you want.

I'll tell you right off, it's not shakespeare. It's not christopher nolan...OR barbie. It's not spielberg. There's a decent amount of gore and bloodshed. So if that's what you are in it for, you shouldn't be too disappointed.

I don't understand all the reviews that trashed the guy from Game of Thrones. As if THEY should be deciding which roles he should or shouldn't be taking? He was decent in this role. Probably why the movie works at ALL. Although the bad guy was believable, too. I'm thinking the movie was too long. There ARE parts that could've been edited without hurting the story at ALL. But...it is what it is. A violent movie about a lot of ugly sort of people. Including the people on the periphery.

So. It wasn't terrible. I can't see how people wouldn't know what they're going into, watching this film. Maybe they can only justify seeing it by trashing it in a review... there were a few loose ends, i thought, that could've used tying up. But, since it was 'based on a true story', maybe that was the part that was true. Things don't always wind up the way we'd like them to in some movies...

Worth watching....missed opportunity, there was a great film here

[fashinrashin · 6/10 · 15 July 2023]

Another great film on the cutting room floor.... Look at this cast Ethan Suplee, karl glusman, January jones, Coster Waldau, Jamie Foxx, and MALKA MONROE is superb.

NOTHING wrong with the acting, super acting, action shots were good, tension build up was good, Its just too long and it didnt know what it was.

I think it was a Noir/Horror /Gothic cult movie that would have been around for decades. Who knows maybe there is a directors cut, maybe this was butchered by other hands, and not the creative team. There is a great movie in all that rotten story boarding and lack of continuity.

The real movie is on the cutting room floor.

A nice horror movie full of action scenes

[mvahidalizadeh · 7/10 · 16 July 2023]

At the beginning of the story, a cult snatches a girl who is the daughter of a policeman. Another girl who used to work for the cult teams up with the policeman to help him find his daughter. The story is well-written. It is hard to predict the next scenes. The acting crew is well-selected. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Maika Monroe, Jamie Foxx, and Karl Glusman are awesome in this movie. The movie is full of nice action scenes. I liked the angles of the camera and its movement during the scenes especially in the car chasing scenes. There are many different locations in the movie. In general, I recommend this movie to horror and action movie fans.

I really wanted to like this, but there is just not much to like here

[nicolasroop · 3/10 · 27 June 2023]

Let me start by saying that this movie is about an hour too long. The story should have been made for a swift and violent revenge flick. Instead, it's a contemplative, meandering, and, above all else, boring mess of a movie. The film has far too many scenes covering all of the things the audience doesn't care about and it drags the final product all the way down to the ground.

The only good things I can say about my experience is that the cinematography is on point and the film feature some very strong acting from it's lead roles. However, some of the lines the leads had to say were so incredibly unbelieveable, it was almost not worthy of the acting talent on display.

My biggest problem with this film is that it trys to be edgy and punchy with it's violence, but completely forgets to create an impact. Thinking back on films with similar tones, I can't help but be reminded of the strangulation scene in No Country For Old Men and how horrifying it was watch. Same with the film Blue Ruin and it's extreme bursts of ultraviolence that absolutely shocked me in the moment. The movie just doesn't come close to that, and it really should have. Might have saved the film from being below average.

Overall, if you're really interested, you could do worse. However, I personally couldn't recommend it due to it's excessive runtime and it's failure to shock and awe the audience.

1.5 vengence filled individuals out of 5.

7/10 Dark, raw, brilliant saga for genre

[random-70778 · 15 July 2023]

Award winning novel very well adapted. Film conveys saga of complexity and brutality of similar films like American History X.

Not at all drawn out, the world building is expansive. S

This film is a stunningly well done work based on the ancient theme of descent into the dark world in order to pull a victim back out. It deeply mines themes of revenge and rage. It is quite violent. But none of the violence is actually gratioutious.

The villains in this are not cardboard cutouts that most audiences are used to. I don't mean they are good and bad, I mean the amount of raw villainy is intense.

How often do you see a hard bitten, jaded urban vice detective, who presumably has seen everything, shaken and shocked?

Different, dark, tense, violent, well acted

[xenafan40 · 7/10 · 19 November 2023]

Based on review score of 5.6, didn't really expect much, and as with all movies i watch, if it had not caught my attention,(drawn me in) within 20 minutes i'd have turned it off And on to the next one.

So i did watch the entire movie, as it certainly caught my attention. I liked the two main characters, especially the gal as she was fiesty.

The film was certainly Different, also Dark, tense, Violent,, but not Too much that i couldn't watch, as in the latest "Saw" movie.

It was very well acted and could have been a much "Bigger" movie and more on peoples radar, with just some extra attention to detail, mainly in latter stages and interaction with the main characters in ending scenes, which did not inspire "Real concern" and "Connection" with them and their interactions. It is still well worth watching and one of the few in recent times that i'd watch all through.

Very decent movie, which i think deserves a higher score than it has. Even though it seems missing slightly to have you caring more for the main charcters, it is still a worthy watch.

This nonsense was originally 156 minutes? I saw the 120 min version, so thank God I dodged that Bullet!

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 5/10 · 15 July 2023]

What I saw was a great story ruined by amateur-hour filmmaking. Shockingly, Nick Cassavetes - the same guy who directed The Notebook, directed this mess. You're supposed to get better the more films you make, not worse. A fifth grade drama class could've come up with a better production.

This was so poorly and lazily directed and written, it was riddled with plot and technical issues. It was tedious and exhausting without enough emotional depth, nuance or palpable suspense. It's a grimy, violent exploitation movie dressed up pretending it has something to say, yet fails to yield any visceral emotional impact. Even some of the dialogue was absolute nonsense, moronic and cringe, worthy of eyerolls.

There were so many filmmaking errors, they started off as hilarious, then became annoying. At about the midway part of the (two hour) film, the scenes where Case and Bob are in the pick-up, Case's nose cut and black eyes vanished for a couple of camera angles, then magically re-appeared. Then we're supposed to believe that Nikolaj's character got all these tattoos in one sitting, and they all healed with no redness or scars. It doesn't get any more lazy and amateur-hour filmmaking than that. Even the action scenes at the end where laughable and defied logic and reasoning. The filmmaking also lacked urgency, was bloated, boring for the most part, and poorly paced. I pity those that had to sit trough the longer version of this nonsense.

Aside from the outstanding performances, and decent cinematography and score, this was a huge misfire plagued by amateur-hour and lazy filmmaking. God Is a Bullet may be loaded, but it's only firing blanks. Too bad a better filmmaker wasn't hired to make this film, it had tons of promise with its based-on-true-events story.

What's with the negative reviews?

[pedja-the · 7/10 · 22 July 2023]

Based on the rating and tons of negative reviews, I expected this to be a major dissapointment. However I decided to give it chance because of Nicolaj Coster - Waldau, who has surprised me with some excellent roles before (Shot Caller). I understand people's frustration as they have seen the version that is 2 and a half hours long, but there is a one of an hour and 47 minutes which is excellent. If you are a fan of 80's and 90's action/revenge /old Mad Max movies vibe, give this one a chance (at least the shorter version) and you might find yourself entertained and pleased. At least I have....

waaaaay too long

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 19 September 2023]

A gang of Satanic cultists are rampaging, killing, raping, kidnapping, and creating general mayhem. Police detective Bob Hightower (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is devastated when his family gets attacked. He recruits former cultist Case Hardin (Maika Monroe) who escaped to rescue his kidnapped daughter.

At first, it's rambling, disjointed, and a bit interesting. I like some aspects. The weird cult is a little interesting. It's over the top and that adds a surreal quality. They do stick out like a sore thumb. Then the movie keeps going and going and going nowhere fast. It really grinds you down for over two and a half hour. That's an hour too long and the movie doesn't deserve the extra running time. There are good actors here, but they can't save this.

Slow and boring? Who is saying this the TikTok generation?

[Shaunmatthewc · 9/10 · 16 July 2023]

First things first, I read many reviews that this film was boring and slow. Who is saying this? People who like TikTok. I found it to be a well paced revenge story which has good character development and is based on true events. In a nutshell a cop (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) daughter gets kidnapped by a Satanic Cult and it is up to him to find her and get her back with a little help from a former cult member (Maika Monroe) who is great in everything she's in. Jamie Foxx has a cameo but probably isn't in the film more than 15 mins. All I would say is decide for yourself rather than read the reviews because I was pleasantly surprised.

Could have been so much better

[DaDonatello · 6/10 · 14 July 2023]

I'm a big Vigo fan and read the book, so had to give this a shot. I just can't figure out why they went this way with the film. I was getting bored but then they played "Maggot Brain" by Funkadelic and it got my attention again. The acting is good but characters are pretty dull. They could have done so much more with the time they used for mostly incoherent dialogue to learn about the characters. And the over acting by one of the cult members (won't spoil it) was just so over-the-top I rolled my eyes and laughed. Also, not sure how the parental guide got approved but the violence is definitely not that bad, and there's no nudity.

It just wouldn't end...

[mickthelipp · 1/10 · 24 June 2023]

This movie was horrible. I really wanted to like it, but everything about it was bad. It was supposed to be based on a true story, but it couldn't have been more fiction. I don't want to include any spoilers, but the amount of beatings/shootings/flames the characters take would have put them in the hospital, if not died. There was no character build up, and they expect you to know who is who. One of the characters gets his face sliced, then it's completely healed. Just so fake, horrible dialogue, weak acting, and it could have been half as long. It wasn't Tree of Life bad, but I highly suggest skipping this one.

Sluggishly disappointing, far fetched (for a true tale), hole-filled crime thriller

[danieljfarthing · 6/10 · 17 July 2023]

Despite its fine (tho under-rated) two leads, and its noted writer/director Nick Cassavetes, crime thriller "God Is A Bullet" is a sluggish disappointment. When cop Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's ex-wife (and her husband) are killed & teen daughter kidnapped by Karl Glusman's evil demonic cult (including Ethan Suplee), ex-cult member Maika Monroe (strong again) helps him track them to Mexico to get the daughter back (helped by Jamie Foxx). Tho an apparently true tale it seems far fetched, simplistic, hole-filled, and a tad repetitive & slow. While nowhere near matching the best of those involved (like Coster-Waldau's similarly toned "Shot Caller") it's still just about watchable.

S3x Tr4ffick1ng Deep in America

[nightringer-76840 · 7/10 · 19 July 2023]

Nick Cassavetes has 2 movies that get iconic status: The Notebook & Alpha Dogs, 2 very different movies. God is a Bullet is almost became iconic, but went chicken halfway. He played it safe.

The actors were brilliant in playing their characters. Maika Monroe gave a very powerful and Oscar worthy performance, if Academy Award has not turned sour by Woke & Pride rules. She went unrecognizable and wild.

The screenplay was an observation of how dark America was in the world of violent sex traffickers. The Deputy Sherrif was how regular American represented. He was rigid and shallow in holding on to church and law abiding American way of thinking, but he needed to save his daughter who got kidnapped by sex traffickers.

Then came Hardcase (Maika's character) who guided him into a rabbit hole of dark sex traffickers world. They had their own language, codes and demeanor. Together, they rescued and killed the sex traffickers gang and cleaned the roots which brought them back to 2 influencial men in their city, his superiors the head Sheriff and prominent lawyer.

The big surprise was Jamie Foxx played a character unrecognizable and the pivotal character in their journey.

God is a Bullet is Nick Cassavetes adaptation on Tim Ballard's life in a low budget poetic movie, at least the first 1 hour 40 minutes. I was mesmerized by how detailed Cassavetes directed this film. I was transported to this dark criminal world. It was uncomfortable and anxiety driven first 1 hour 40 minutes.

Then Cassavetes decided to play it safe in the next 50 minutes. Turning God is a Bullet as just another bloody Death Wish style of vigilantism. From exciting to a bit disappointed by Cassavetes decision. He could have made this movie a lot more impactful, but his safe play only earned good action flick nod, not great.

God Is An Aimless Bullet

[saintofkillrs · 2/10 · 26 June 2023]

The trailer showed so much promise. Good cast. Good premise. It was dressed up as a 70s gritty revenge flick, but it was all misleading. The 2.5 hour runtime is not justified. The script is a mess -- hopefully it wasn't written by AI. I wouldn't be surprised if it was. The acting was decent enough. Maika and Jaime Lannister came to play, but even they couldn't save this aimless mess. The characters are one-dimensional and ultimately we're not invested in them. Even the bad guys are lame. I'm not scared simply because they have their faces covered in ink. The geography of the movie was also confusing. I couldn't tell where we were half the time -- Mexico or California? The only thing I enjoyed was the violence. It's a bloody film. A tad over the top, but bloody nonetheless. Nick's direction was lackluster and that's putting it lightly, but it's not entirely his fault. It all comes down to the script. The writing was simply not there. It felt like a 1st draft. Whoever greenlit this should be applying for EDD right now. And let's not talk about the many "endings" this had. It felt like Return of the King with it's never-ending endings. In closing, a regretful waste of $10 and 2.5 hours of my life.

Did Not Make Sense

[kfdynks · 6/10 · 27 September 2023]

I watched this film to the end, but it did not make sense. The movie starts saying this is based on a true story but I cannot find which true story it is based on. The plot did not have enough detail. I could ask so many questions that the film ignored.

Do girls get snatched off US streets and inducted into gangs / cults and used for sex?

I could not understand what Jamie Foxx was saying.

Malka Monroe gave a good performance.

How did he survive the snake bite?

How did he survive the crossbow in the shoulder and the abdominal laceration?

How did he survive being shot and not bleeding out?

Where did all the fire works come from and what was there purpose?

How did Malka's character pay for her taxi's?

What did she eat out in the hut? I couldn't survive for a day in a freezing cold hut but she was there for 2 weeks plus.

Could a real person go around killing people without any consequences? It was like the Wild West.

Why would Malta's character not reconnect with her mother and heal her suffering?

Why do American films have to have a happy ending?

Not worth watching in my opinion and could have been so much better.

Violent just to show the gore.

[Tron79 · 1/10 · 22 July 2023]

The filmmaker seemed to enjoy showing one of the bad guys trying to reattach his jaw that was just blown off of his face. I was hoping to watch another great performance from ex Game of Thrones actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, but I was left feeling sorry that I decided to sit through the whole movie. I witnessed multiple women who were violently punched in the face. Scenes of rape. A scene where a woman was shot 20 times in the face. A scene with another woman shot in the head. Another woman was shot in the back multiple times. The violence was taken to the absurd as one of the bad guys repeatedly pounded NCW's arm with a baseball bat as hard as he could after NCW's was just set on fire with a flame thrower. In the next scene NCW was just fine with a small cast on his forearm and a few facial scars that seemed to give his face even more character than his signature broken nose.

I thought the story showed some promise at the beginning. I was all in for the road trip. NCW got all tatted up and was traveling with another girl who was abducted 11 years ago by the same cult who took NCW's daughter. After repeated scenes of overly violent gore, I just wanted the movie to end. I found nothing redeeming. There were also multiple plot holes and continuity problems. When the cult leader shot one of the girls 20 times in the head, I thought the filmmaker just enjoyed showing the gore. I wish I would have said enough already and turned it off.

Stupid and contrived

[kykysmamma · 20 August 2023]

The focus is supposed to be on Satanic people being evil and dangerous. We see them killing a woman and her husband as well as kidnapping the women's daughter. The reality is that all religions are dangerous and the 1 exception might be the Satanic Church because they don't actually believe in any nonsense. The bad guys in this movie include cops,, Satanists,, and a "Christian" preacher. The amount of violence is totally over the top, as well. The difficulty suspending disbelief to watch this garbage is just too much. This movie is chaotic overall with multiple different storylines.that are hard to follow.

i cant say awesome movie

[xpress-262-818823 · 7/10 · 21 July 2023]

I cant say awesome movie cause of the fact it was based on an actual real life story.

That being said.

Its not the best movie out there but certainly not the worst!

The movie begins about a little girl being kidnapped by some cult, then the next kidnapping takes place at a house and her mother and her boyfriend are killed in the process.

Now her biological dad is a copper and sadly had to find the scene at his exes house while he dropped by with his dad.

This is where it gets interesting lets just say this aint your average dad. And he will do anything to get his daughter back

I liked the acting its a raw movie and its hard to discuss the storyline.

Overal nice movie. I dare say if you didnt watch it you missed out!

Could have been so much better

[smifo11 · 5/10 · 23 September 2023]

As some people have said, it starts promisingly. But doesn't really deliver. It's disjointed. Doesn't flow well. But worst of all you're not really introduced to the characters virtually at all. At the beginning, a girl is kidnapped, then suddenly it's 12 years later (girl aged, bad guys haven't seemingly aged at all).

What's happened to her? What's the structure of the cult? What do the cult members want? There are lots of characters in the film, but we're not in the least bit involved with any of them.

I watched the whole film, so it couldn't have been totally terrible. But I definitely wasn't sure whether or not I'd wasted my time. Most films of this genre are 90 mins. This one should have been better or shorter.

Don't listen to all the hate and ignore all the negative reviews...

[drahulrajjsd · 10/10 · 18 July 2023]

Just finished watching God Is A Bullet from the director of Alpha Dog, Nick Cassavetes... and My God this movie is just incredible! Don't listen to all the hate and ignore all the negative reviews... Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Maika Monroe shine in this film... They are both amazing as the lead characters and they really bring out the realistic emotions shown in their performances... This movie doesn't feel slowburn to me, it's more like a rollercoaster ride in a crime drama thriller style with nonstop violence scattered all over the movie, a badass intense climax, a lil bit of romance with a cool soundtrack... I saw the 2hr 35 min version which is the longer one... I can't imagine what scenes in the 2hr version they would want to cut out... Every scene in this movie is great... So, make sure you watch the longer version. You don't want to miss out on anything...

You're Crossing Over

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 23 July 2023]

The film is based on a book by the same title. Bob Hightower (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is a "desk cowboy" detective. His separated wife is killed in a break-in and his daughter Gabby (Chloe Guy) is kidnapped by a Satanic cult. The police have no leads. A girl who once was part of the group and got away claims she can help. The police department does not consider her to be reliable as she is a junkie or ex-junkie and has a criminal record. And lots of tattoos. Bob quits his job and travels with concrete blonde Casey (Maika Monroe) known to he friends as "Head Case." Bob's journey is one of distrust. Case explains the title at a 24/7 truck stop diner. She rejects Bob's theological concepts of good and evil. It is just something we hide behind.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.

Could have been better

[malambert313 · 5/10 · 2 August 2023]

It could have been better and it could have got a higher rating if some of the things done actually had purpose and a point in the story. For instance getting tattoos to fit in. Fit in to what? It seemed like he was going undercover but in the one place that his "art" was mentioned in passing, it was in a bar and most of his "art" was covered up. A fake tat from the quarter machine would've done fine. The music score did not fit the movie and in my humble opinion brought it way down. Music sets the mood and slow whiny music does an action movie little good. No depth to the characters, plot holes, just kind of boring. Seriously just changing the score would have changed this movie from a 5 to a 7. Add a little tension to all the scenes would of added another star.