Businessman and Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson says an upcoming movie about his father's dramatic spiritual transformation will demonstrate what can happen when a single person turns to Christ.
The Blind (PG-13) will release nationwide on Sept. 28 and follow the story of Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson, who overcame alcohol addiction and bouts with anger to launch one of the best-known businesses in America. As the film details, the turning point in his personal life came when he became a Christian.
"He told me one time, 'Once I finally got sober, I could finally think about business,'" Willie Robertson told Christian Headlines.
The film depicts Robertson overcoming his lure to alcohol through the power of Christ. Alcohol was "holding him back," Willie Robertson added.
"They stuck with it, they found their faith, their marriage stayed together, our lives were changed, our family was changed," he said.
Willie and his wife Korie were producers of the film.
"Whenever a family sticks together, [whenever] a family turns to Jesus …. there's a generational impact," Korie told Christian Headlines.
Korie called her father-in-law an open book who isn't shy about discussing his dark past.
"Phil, he's pretty blunt," Korie told Christian Headlines. "... He's always used his story as testimony to help other people. If it can help someone else by him telling the hard parts of his life, he'll do it."
The film follows the story of Phil Robertson falling for and marrying Kay Carroway as teenagers and then having children at a young age. In the film, Willie is depicted as a two-year-old, the youngest of three kids. His grandson portrayed him in the movie.
In the movie and in real life, Kay left Phil because she feared how his anger and alcoholism would impact the children. Willie said he doesn't have any memories of his father's bouts with alcohol addiction.
"I could always sense it and feel that, you know, that my parents had come out of some tragedy, damage for sure," Willie said. "But ... most of my memories, thank the Lord, are from really, the healing process and them doing really good and being great people."
Korie calls The Blind a gritty, inspirational movie.
"We just felt like it's important to be honest about that, because I think you can see a family on television, and think, 'Oh, this upward trajectory toward success in their life must have always been perfect.' But actually, that is really far from the case," she said. "There was alcoholism and addiction and adultery, and all those things are part of their story. And we thought we really need to see the dark side to understand the light, to understand God's grace and His redemption and His covering."
Photo courtesy: ©Fathom, used with permission.
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
