The businessman best known for the reality program Duck Dynasty says he allowed the darkest moments of his life to be depicted in a new movie so that unchurched people would come to Christ.
The early life of Phil and Kay Robertson is re-told in the new movie The Blind (PG-13), which opens Sept. 28 and follows the couple’s blossoming romance and subsequent challenges due to his anger and alcoholism. The movie even shows Phil booting Kay and the children from their small home. It stars Aron von Andrian and Amelia Eve in the lead roles. His life changed when he became a Christian -- on the big screen and in real life.
Phil Robertson told Christian Headlines he “never doubted” the idea of a movie, even though it depicts some of the darkest moments of his life.
“We appeal to Jesus on everything we do. This is just one more thing on how we can reach the world. We love them. So we're trying to help them,” he told Christian Headlines.
Viewers of Duck Dynasty know Phil as a wise-cracking patriarch who demonstrates unconditional love for his family. The Blind, though, depicts Phil as a man who easily falls for the evils of the world. He is often angry. He stays out late most nights, drinking with friends. He blames others for his woes.
The movie is set amid the swamps of Louisiana.
Kay Robertson remembers a friend from work telling her, “Phil's gonna come up here and kill somebody.”
“He was leading down the road to death,” she said. “I mean, he had major wrecks that he should have been killed [in] but wasn't.”
Kay Robertson, too, faced demons. In the movie, her character seems to contemplate suicide.
“I just wanted to go to sleep. I just wanted to go to sleep and be at peace. Because I felt like there was so much torment with Phil,” she told Christian Headlines. “... I didn't say, ‘I want to take my life.’ I said, ‘I want to go to sleep, and just sleep.’”
She says his transformation after he accepted Christ was significant, although sometimes slow.
“I knew his heart was right. I knew he had Jesus. But then I knew it was a growing period. Because he didn't know how to act as a Christian. And he would say things [that are] inappropriate.” Kay Robertson told Christian Headlines.
She remembers Phil as a young Christian, wanting to go to Bible studies to learn more about Christ. Once, her young son Jason (Jase) told her, “I hope he won't cuss if he comes to church because we'll be embarrassed.”
“And I said, ‘Jason, we have to teach him how to talk,’” she said.
Learn more at TheBlindMovie.com.
Photo Courtesy: @Fathom, used with permission
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.