What I learned from Angel Studios’ ‘Approved by the Guild’ seal

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What I learned from Angel Studios’ ‘Approved by the Guild’ seal

“Solo Mio” turned out to be a forgettable rom-com. What stuck with me was the message flashed before it began — approved by a 1.5 million-member Christian guild I’d never heard of.

By Alexandra Fil | FaVS News Columnist

The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. 

In March, my sister and I went to see the romantic comedy “Solo Mio.” It was neither of our first picks, but we have very different tastes and are used to compromising, especially when we’re both bored on a Tuesday night. While my sister prefers movies like “The Devil Wears Prada,” I have a soft spot for cult classics and “so bad they’re good” films. 

“Solo Mio” had decent reviews, and I like that romantic comedies are coming back in style, so we agreed to check it out. As far as we knew, the movie was about an American man, played by Kevin James, who is left at the altar and must spend his honeymoon alone in Rome.

We had low expectations walking into the mostly-empty theatre and made small talk about the movies featured in the previews. One such trailer for the movie “Young Washington” had us looking at each other in confusion. What looked like a Braveheart-style war drama about the first founding father, complete with a young heartthrob playing the titular role, was shown to us for several minutes. It looked like a movie with potential to be well-made, but was mostly devoid of substance beyond “America Good.”

“Young Washington” wasn’t, and still isn’t, on either of our watch lists. I would have paid the movie no mind, except for a small detail that caught my attention before the screening of “Solo Mio.” “Young Washington” is being distributed by Angel Studios, an independent media company based in Utah. 

The name “Angel Studios” briefly made me wonder whether there was a connection between the studio’s name and its content. What sort of content would even be acceptable to distribute from angels, and how could a violent war film fit those standards? Unless, of course, that violent war film also happened to present a sanitized version of American history in which the founding fathers were righteous, benevolent patriarchs who tamed the uncivilized New World and forged the glorious “utopia” that is the United States of America.

A seal of approval from who, exactly?

In the moments before “Solo Mio” began to play, the “Angel Studios” logo flashed, along with a message that left us scratching our heads. It was: “This film is approved by the Angel Guild. A growing community of over 1,500,000 members.”

Upon seeing this message, my sister and I looked at each other in confusion, as we were unfamiliar with the Angel Guild and what their approval meant for the movie we were about to watch. When our eyes met, hers narrowed in suspicion, as if to say, “What did you take me to?”

Neither of us could be described as “religious.” My sister is certainly spiritual, believing in concepts like astrology and manifestation, whereas I identify as a secular humanist with the occasional weakness for cringey holiday movies. I’ve spent much of my life exposing Ariana to movies I love, and she despises, like “The Dark Crystal,” so her suspicion was warranted.

However, I was as ignorant as she was, so I shrugged and whispered the truth: “I have no idea what that means.” We tentatively settled in to watch what we hoped would be a decent romantic comedy.

The movie begins with the romance between Matt Taylor (Kevin James), an American schoolteacher in his 50s, and Heather, another teacher at the school. They plan to marry in Rome, but Heather gets cold feet and doesn’t show up to their wedding. Matt is heartbroken, but not so much that he’s willing to lose his deposit on his honeymoon, so he braves it alone. Along the way, he is more or less adopted by two other honeymooning couples and befriends a beautiful Italian Barista, Gia (Nicole Grimaudo). 

Despite his heartbreak, he develops strong feelings for Gia, who reciprocates, but further details about their lives threaten their budding romance. I’ll spare interested readers the full spoilers for the movie, but suffice it to say that love conquers all and Andrea Bocelli serenades the audience.

“Solo Mio,” while not groundbreaking, was a sweet romantic comedy that you could easily watch with your grandparents or your children. Aside from a few scenes where characters are drinking, one instance of profanity, and the strange relationship between a married psychologist and her former client, there wasn’t much to object to. Fans of Rome and Andrea Bocelli (and Ed Sheeran) might really enjoy it, but I found myself waiting for something funny to happen to earn admission to the “comedy” genre.

As I watched the movie, I tried to keep an eye out for anything that might have recommended it to the Angel Guild. Would there be a scene in which a heartbroken Kevin James seeks guidance from a wise, scripture-quoting priest? Would the romantic interest advise Kevin James to “trust in God,” or give over to a higher power? Would Alyson Hannigan, of “American Pie” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” fame, as well as a co-star in this movie, make some reference to her husband’s congregation back in the States?

As it turns out, no, none of that happened.

To my recollection, there was no overt Christian symbolism, aside from a brief scene in which Andrea Bocelli leads his family in prayer before dinner. That struck me as something Andrea Bocelli likely does in his day-to-day life, and was an authentic portrayal of how a family dinner in Italy might begin, so it was an unremarkable moment. I had expected an unsubtle Christian message wrapped in a thin layer of romance and comedy, and this movie did not deliver on that expectation.

What ‘safe’ really means

I’ve since done some research and learned that the Angel Guild is a membership service through Angel Studios that, among other perks, allows members “to vote on pilots, concepts, and feature films to decide what [Angel Studios] make next.” Beyond coughing up the $240 a year fee for a yearly membership (although there are frequent sales), there are no requirements for guild membership.

While researching the Angel Guild, I came across a brief Facebook commercial in which a celebrity endorses the Angel Guild as a way to watch family-friendly movies while avoiding content they categorize as “unsafe.” But what exactly makes entertainment “safe” or “unsafe”? What about “unsafe” artwork makes it unsafe, and what qualifies as “safe” artwork? Personally, the most dangerous form of media you can consume is anything that distances you from your fellow human beings, even if that media claims to bring you “closer to Christ.”

After reviewing some of the other films Angel Studios has on their roster, I’m still not sure what qualifies as “safe” in their eyes. Content that has made the cut includes the historical drama about George Washington, “Tuttle Twins,” an animated show for children that teaches history and libertarian values, and a remake of George Orwell’s novella “Animal Farm.” It is an interesting collection that continues to grow as Angel Studios acquires new properties and guild members.

People should have the right to decide what content they consider “safe” for themselves and their families, but that’s a difficult line to toe. The outside world will continue to exist even if some Angel Guild members choose to insulate themselves. Rather than avoiding that “unsafe” content, wouldn’t it make more sense to observe it, analyze it, and understand why it’s unsafe? 

I’ll certainly regard a movie as “unsafe” if I think it positively frames violence against women and marginalized communities, but that’s my choice. I’ve watched hundreds of movies throughout my life and generally have a good idea of what I can handle and what I prefer to avoid. What I do not need is a Guild of people whom I’ve never met and whose values I do not know deciding that a movie is approved for me.

I’m not opposed to watching movies with religious themes (quite the opposite, in fact), but what I don’t like is feeling deceived. It makes me feel like the times in college when I was approached by Christian outreach groups, who seemed friendly at first before requesting that I read a statement affirming my love for Christ and condemning all other religions. Those people weren’t actually interested in my friendship unless I did something for them, and that insincerity left its mark.

“Solo Mio” is not a bad movie. It has a simple script, a couple of awkward moments, and may exist only as an excuse for the movie’s creators to work in Italy for a few weeks. If my Yaiyai were still alive, it would be the kind of movie I could comfortably watch with her. Some parts of it were even good, like the easy chemistry between the leads and the beautiful scenery.

What left a bitter taste in my mouth was that tagline at the start of the movie. The fact that the studio proudly boasts of this Guild and their approval as if the true marker of art is its vast crowd-appeal to a specific group of self-identified Christians. That tagline made me wonder if I would spend the next hour and a half in a movie theatre being proselytized to. I’m glad to say that was not my experience.

I’m curious to see where Angel Studios will go with future releases. It may be my own paranoia, but I suspect Angel Studios’ content will take on an increasingly conservative message, both financially and socially. Either way, it will be interesting to see what the Angel Guild will “approve” for its members to watch in the coming years.

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