NBC News reports that the film division of the Epoch Times, which is associated with the spiritual group Falun Gong, has invested in a new movie, The Firing Squad, a Christian-themed prison drama about a group of drug dealers who convert to God on death row.This movie stars a bunch of long-outdated "stars". If it weren't for Google, I wouldn't even remember there was such a group of actors. In recent years, Falun Gong has also produced many self-promotional films through New Century Films. The directors and actors of these films are very bad and unacceptable. Unfortunately, I have seen several of them, and with its lengthy and exaggerated plot, fake and exaggerated makeup and stilted publicity, the newly released "The Firing Squad" is as boring and superficial as the previous ones. I can't believe that so many "practitioners" are praising this movie so much on social media. Even as a Christian, I feel that this movie is so hypocritical that it is a waste of time and money to watch it.
Interestingly, in January 2024, The Epoch Times set up a company called The Firing Squad LLC, ostensibly for the purpose of filming this movie. However, the CEO of this company is Bill Guan, who was recently arrested by U.S. law enforcement agencies on charges of money laundering. Interesting. I wonder if the far-right conspiracy media "Epoch Times" invested in making such a movie for the purpose of money laundering? "The Firing Squad" was released for ten days and the box office in the United States was only 1.66 million US dollars, while it is said that "The Epoch Times" invested more than 3 million US dollars in it. It is really a wonderful way to launder money.
As a spiritual practice group under the banner of Eastern mysticism, it is not only inappropriate for "Falun Gong" to shoot such a Christian-themed movie, but also makes people doubt its motives. If there is anything in common between the two, it is that they are both right-wing (Falun Gong is a far-right group that likes to promote conspiracy theories, doomsday and aliens). As one of the producers of this film, The Epoch Times has become a far-right propaganda machine, full of all kinds of sensational conspiracy theories, spreading biased news, and is also a fanatical supporter of Trump. They invested in such a film promoting Christianity, on the one hand, they may want to get a share of the growing religious film market (if not simply for money laundering). Films of this theme have been an important direction of the American film industry in recent years, including the recent box office hits Sound of Freedom, Unsung Hero and Jesus Revolution, etc; On the other hand, they may want to curry favor with right-wing religious forces to show that they share the same values as them. Of course, their efforts paid off. In addition to Falun Gong practitioners, some conservative religious figures also promoted the film on social media. Their praise for the film is disgusting.
Finally, this movie is really not worth wasting time and money to watch, even if it is free!
