The film “Southern Gospel” came out on March 10th after being filmed in 2020, and the film has already had a significant impact on one person’s life- Max Ehrich, who plays the film’s lead, Samuel Allen. The film tells the real-life story of 1960s rock and roll singer Allen’s struggles with imprisonment, church, and addiction. The film shows Allen being thrown in jail for a drug charge, but “In a moment of divine intervention, the judge dismisses drug charges against him under the pretense that Samuel speaks to local schools and churches about the dangers of drugs. Given a second chance, he follows in his father’s footsteps to become a preacher, overcoming the influence of a powerful church leader with a personal vendetta against his family,” according to a press release from the film. 

Speaking with Fox News Digital, Ehrich revealed, “I don’t think I’m the same person that I am now that I was before [I made the movie].” He shared that studying for the role involved delving deeper into the scriptures, which opened up his faith. “It was a very demanding role. My character goes through a lot, a range of emotions that really challenged me, which is exactly what I love. Those are the kind of projects that I’m always keen to want to be a part of.” Despite Allen’s struggles with the church, Ehrich stated the message of the film is forgiveness. “What [Allen] really stands for is we’re all sinners, we all have our flaws, but the grace of God is really about forgiveness and about love towards ourselves, towards others, not judgment,” he said. The film also allowed Ehrich to use his talents as a musician as he sang and played original songs throughout the film. He stated that he was grateful that the music was being used for a positive impact. 

The film came at a time of personal struggle for Ehrich as his relationship with actress and singer Demi Lovato fell apart. The two broke off their engagement the very day Ehrich was filming a scene of Allen getting baptized. However, rather than fall apart, he clung to faith and decided to get baptized as well. “It was very public, and people were very intrusive about it. I just felt like I needed the protection of God and Jesus during that time, and I’d say that was one of the many reasons why I [got baptized],” he told Faithwire. He said to Faithwire that his faith carried him through the hard times. “I don’t think that things happen just out of nowhere; I think there’s a reason why and I think that because I got to work on this project, and I have a character that’s overcoming so many things and has an emotional arc, I was able to use [my personal experience] for the film, actually,” he said. He also told Fox News Digital that he believes shows like “The Chosen” and the success of “The Jesus Revolution” show that there is a hunger for faith-based films after the impact of the pandemic. “I do think that we’re in a time right now where people want that hope, and people want to be inspired. So I do think now is the perfect time for projects like ‘Southern Gospel’ and ‘Jesus Revolution’ to be coming out,” he said. “Southern Gospel” currently has a 98 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.