The Pastor is a powerful redemptive story set in the urban communities of Brooklyn, New York tacking the issue of gangs.

The Pastor follows a former gang leader, who after ending up in solitary confinement, discovers his faith in God. He becomes an ordained Pastor and after being released on parole he pastors a church set in the centre of gangland, trying to help young people seek an alternative to ending up in the gang lifestyle. As turf wars heat up between the two most prominent gangs, one gang leader targets the Pastor’s new mission and community, the church is vandalised, his life is threatened and his wife is kidnapped. Fighting his inner demons, the Pastor must decide between maintaining his new-found faith or returning to his past.

Due to the nature of this film tackling gangs, gang rivalry and young people joining gangs there is some violence in the film, but not too much, most of the film is styled to give you the feeling that it is a dark, scary, violent place but without showing too much violence. This is where the film excels in its excellent production quality, it has an arty European feel with a mix of Latino, right from the cinematography, the colour grading and the sound, giving it a somewhat raw and edgy feel.

The storyline is gripping and well written, along with characters which are made believable through the actors and some unexpected twists and turns, this film will have you on the edge of your seat right till the very end, and the ending is powerful.

As well as raising to issue of gangs and young people joining gangs this films really shows that no matter what you’ve done, no matter how low you’ve fallen, no matter where you are in life there is always an opportunity to change and to embrace God.