Sight & Sound’s ‘A Great Awakening’ Proves It Only Takes One Spark to Stoke a Fire
What happens when a kite, a metal key and a thunderstorm meet? The same thing that happens when politics and religion collide. Electricity. That’s the exact spark that new feature film “A Great Awakening” hopes to ignite when it opens in theaters April. 3, 2026. The historical drama from Sight & Sound — the family-owned Pennsylvania-based company best known for their immersive, Biblical stage shows, as well as 2022’s “I Heard The Bells,” which marked their foray into filmmaking — arrives just in time for Easter and ahead of America’s 250th birthday.
Set in the 1700s, “A Great Awakening” details the improbable friendship between Benjamin Franklin and George Whitefield — two American treasures. While their respective accomplishments, like Franklin’s discovery of electricity and Whitefield’s role in founding what became the Methodist denomination, are well known, their personal origin stories remain far more of a mystery.
What started as a business deal morphed into a genuine friendship. As the founder of “The Philadelphia Gazette,” Franklin published Whitefield’s sermons and often housed his friend when he came to town for his evangelical crusades. While throngs of people came to know the Lord though Whitefield’s revolutionary open-air preaching tactics, Franklin became his most tricky convert, despite their close bond.
To understand the complexities of the men they became, it’s important to decipher their respective backstories — both of which are revealed during flashbacks as Franklin tells his grandson the stories of his youth.
Seemingly coming from two different worlds, the two men shared a love for words and the power they possess. The son of a candlemaker, Franklin was an influential diplomat and an uncivilized inventor. Meanwhile, Whitefield was a religious, Oxford-educated renegade who was forced to flee his native Britain for America. With pure intentions and a dark, nuanced past, he literally risked his life for the sake of his cause.
Stirred by conviction and courage, both men ignited the flames of revival — Franklin in his political sphere and Whitefield in his religious one. In the movie, John Paul Sneed (“Covenant Rider”) stars as Franklin, while Jonathan Blair (“I Heard The Bells”) plays Whitefield. Both actors deliver believable, emotional performances of the real-life heroes, who changed the course of American history, laying the groundwork for today’s governing body and the foundation of modern-day Protestantism.
“A Great Awakening” isn’t simply a character assessment of two prominent historical figures. While the story is compelling in its own right, lessons abound for those willing to lean in. The movie affirms no one is beyond saving. It also navigates the complex nature of facing our own sin in light of a salvation freely given. It contrasts the dualities of a faith rooted in relationship versus a religion centered on legalistic morality. Moreover, it probes the intricacies of divine calling. In addition to friendship, it explores themes of freedom, conviction and innovation all converging at a crucial time in our nation’s history. As America forged its identity, believers across its initial 13 colonies were also discovering their identities as beloved children of God, thanks to bold religious orators of the day, like Whitefield and John and Charles Wesley before him.
“These people that lived in this time didn’t know that a Great Awakening of this magnitude was possible,” Blair observes. “I think everyone hopes for another Great Awakening, but I think somewhere in the back of our minds, we go, ‘Yeah, but it couldn’t really happen. That was 300 years ago; that could never happen today.’ But why not? The truth of the Gospel is eternal. God hasn’t changed. Why couldn’t it happen today? Why not now?”
Perhaps Sight & Sound’s latest film will inspire a new generation of revolutionaries. The visionaries behind the movie hope, at the very least, the movie’s message affirms that just one person can leave an indelible mark on history.
“A Great Awakening” is rated PG-13 for intense scenes, mild violence and brief instances of parent/child physical abuse.
Learn more and purchase tickets at agreatawakening.com.
