TOP 10 ALERT: One of Netflix’s most-watched movies this month is sparking outrage — critics call it “neither romantic, redemptive, nor accurate” 😱📺

Loosely inspired by a biblical tale but set in the Old West, this tear-soaked drama follows a woman sold into a life of suffering — and fans can’t stop debating whether it’s moving… or massively misleading.

Among the most-viewed movies on Netflix in early September 2025, the sappy faith-based parable Redeeming Love is neither romantic, redemptive, nor religiously accurate. Loosely based on the Biblical story of Hosea and his wife Gomer, the story follows Angel (Abigail Cowen), a young woman destined for a life of pain and punishment after being sold into a prostitution ring as a child in Old West California.

When hopeful salvation arrives in the form of a humble farmer with romantic advances, Angel must decide to stick to her old ways or begin life anew. Alas, dripping Hallmark movie schmaltz, unconvincing melodrama, phony sentiment, and a naive worldview, Redeeming Love is only bound to preach to the converted. Unless viewers have read the book it’s based on, Redeeming Love is largely a skippable affair.

‘Redeeming Love’s Premise Is Badly Lost in Translation

Sarah stands on the porch in Redeeming LoveUniversal Pictures

Based on the bestselling 1991 novel by born-again Christian author Francine Rivers, Redeeming Love is, in turn, inspired by the Biblical tale of the prophet, Hosea. Set in California during the 1850s Gold Rush, the plot centers on Angel (Cowen), a young woman who was sold into prostitution as a child. Knowing nothing but a life of abuse, Angel is full of self-loathing and is constantly abused by the brothel’s Madam Duchess (Famke Jensen), Duke (Eric Dane), and its enforcer, MacGowan (Brandon Auret).

Through flashbacks, Angel’s real name is revealed to be Sarah. The punishing memories depict Sarah being abused by her father, Alex (Josh Taylor), who tells her she is worthless and never should have been born. Akin to torture pornography, the conceit here is to relentlessly brutalize Sarah so badly through repeated victimization tropes that she needs a heroic savior to come and take her away. The worse the suffering, the happier the salvation. However, the profound religious trauma is handled much better in several superior movies.

Such a cardboard superhero arrives in the form of Michael Hosea (Tom Lewis), a simple farmer who falls in love with Angel at first sight, moments after begging God for a wife. Michael vows to protect Sarah and deliver her from evil by repeatedly proposing marriage to her. Unsubtle and way too heavy-handed, Sarah plays hard to get, believing she does not deserve happiness due to her scarred past and infertility, much less a celibate man who loves her like Michael.

Sick, icky, and unpleasant to sit through, telling a Biblical parable set in the 1850s is probably not the best way to challenge 21st-century prejudices about “sex-work” (an anachronistic term used in the movie) and underage human trafficking, which feel false and out of place. Yet, the movie’s plot only gets more ridiculous from here as it works way too hard toward Sarah’s salvation and preaches about the modern world with the benefit of hindsight.

‘Redeeming Love’ Gets Less Romantic as It Goes

Sarah and Michael sit under a tree in Redeeming LoveUniversal Pictures

Redeeming Love‘s messy plot thickens with the arrival of Michael’s lusty brother-in-law, Paul (Logan Marshall-Green). Paul is instantly skeptical of Angel and demands she have sex with him for a ride back to town after she ran away from Michael. Without spoiling every ludicrous plot point, Sarah believes she cannot bear children due to a forced abortion she suffered as a child.

With flashbacks to rape, forced abortion, verbal abuse, and teenage death, it’s hard to find any romantic redemption in this story. The movie gets even more depressing when Sarah willingly returns to a life of prostitution, only to take a job in a café when the brothel is burned down. The brothel owner, Duke, forces Sarah back into prostitution (yet again) as a means to save her boss’s job and threatens her life if she doesn’t comply.

Waiting in the wings is Michael, an angelic do-gooder who continues to be turned down for marriage by Sarah despite his confessions of love. In the sappiest of grade-school clichés, Sarah realizes she cannot love another until she loves herself, and finally sticks up for those exploited by the Duke and Duchess. Of course, as far as redemption goes, it’s far too little too late.

‘Redeeming Love’ Preaches to the Converted Too Much

Sarah and Michael embrace at dusk in Redeeming LoveUniversal Pictures

The reception for Redeeming Love is largely divided between those who’ve read the book and those who haven’t. Fans of the source novel believe the movie is a faithful retelling. Many of those who tuned into the movie on Netflix on a whim, mixed with film critics, have not been so kind. Preaching to the converted without convincing new believers, the movie is anything but redeeming or uplifting. Despite its streaming popularity, Redeeming Love boasts a sad 11% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a subpar 32 Metascore.

A preachy message movie with no room to let audiences breathe between the bouts of violent abuse, by the time Sarah decides to better her life and live happily with Michael, it’s too late for the audience to care much anymore. The lame, last-ditch effort to give Sarah a happy ending as she finally accepts Michael’s proposal while beaten and bedridden is done in such poor taste that there’s nothing romantic or optimistic about it. The movie is meant to underscore the awesome healing powers of love, but fails to court those unfamiliar with the novel and Biblical basis.