The Kendricks' First Film Comes Home From Brazil. Its Question Is Still Sharp.
A Brazilian remake of the Kendrick Brothers' 2003 debut "Flywheel" opens in U.S. theaters Oct. 16. Alex Kendrick says, "We do not need more lukewarm Christians."
More than two decades ago, Alex and Stephen Kendrick made their first movie, about a dishonest used-car salesman. Alex says it was shot in standard definition and came out so rough he nearly decided not to release it, Movieguide reported. On Friday, a new version of that film opens in American theaters, and this time it was made in Brazil.
"Flywheel: Ignition of the Soul," a Brazilian remake of the Kendrick Brothers' 2003 debut "Flywheel," opens exclusively in U.S. theaters Oct. 16, according to Deadline and Sony Pictures' AFFIRM Films. It opened in Brazil and Latin America in September. Dock Line has not screened the film, so what follows is drawn from the studio, the filmmakers and published interviews.
The same story, a new city
The plot will be familiar to anyone who saw the original. Set in Rio de Janeiro, the film follows Noah Silva, "a smooth-talking, used-car salesman whose 'do-whatever-it-takes' approach to business and life begins to unravel at home and at work," according to the official movie site. After a series of wake-up calls, he has to face the cost of his choices and try to restore his integrity and win back his wife and son.
Alessandro Barros directed from a screenplay by Alex Kendrick, who also appears in the cast. Mario Bregieira plays Noah. The movie was shot in Portuguese and comes to American audiences with English audio voiced by Brett Varvel, Masey McLain, Todd Terry and Lara Silva, among others, according to the official site. Rotten Tomatoes lists it as rated PG with a running time of 1 hour, 50 minutes.
How a Georgia story ended up in Rio
The remake grew out of the brothers' success in Brazil. Their 2024 film "The Forge" opened at No. 1 there and grossed about $9 million in the country, Deadline reported. While promoting it, the Kendricks met pastors and leaders who wanted locally rooted, faith-driven films.
AFFIRM said the Kendricks hosted a filmmaking boot camp in Rio and recruited many of the attendees for the production, which began shooting a month later in fall 2025. "We found out that Brazilian pastors had been praying for this for five years," Stephen Kendrick said in the studio's announcement. "The movie is better shot, acted and scored than the original, and the storyline is just as powerful."
A challenge, not just a movie night
Alex Kendrick has been blunt about what he hopes audiences take home. "We do not need more lukewarm Christians," he said in an interview with CBN News, as reported by Movieguide. "What we need is Christians who are sold out and truly followers of Jesus Christ."
Looking back on the 2003 original, he said in the same CBN News interview, "The only thing I did right was beg God to use it."
That is worth hearing in an entertainment world that often treats faith as a marketing category. The Kendricks' films, from "Fireproof" to "Courageous," "War Room" and "Overcomer," have never been subtle. Their audiences have kept coming back because the films are about something most screens avoid: a man looking honestly at his own sin and deciding to change.
"Flywheel" puts that question in a place many Christians would rather keep separate from church: the workplace. It is one thing to sing on Sunday. It is another to tell a customer the truth about a car's transmission on Monday when a lie would close the sale. "He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known," says Proverbs 10:9. The story of Noah Silva is that verse played out over a used-car lot.
Worth a look, with eyes open
We have not screened the remake, and no reviews were posted on Rotten Tomatoes as of Wednesday. Families should treat the PG rating as a starting point, not a guarantee, and check a detailed content review before taking young children. Dock Line gave similar advice about the new Narnia trailer: enjoy the story, and keep watching closely.
There is also something encouraging in where this film came from. A story the Kendricks first made on a shoestring more than 20 years ago has now been remade by Brazilian believers in their own language and sent back to American theaters. That is a small picture of how the Gospel has always traveled, carried from one people to another and then back again.
"Flywheel: Ignition of the Soul" opens Friday.
Hero photo: Wilfredor via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 public domain dedication.
