Samson(2018)

Plot Summary

• A Hebrew with an unusual gift of strength must respond properly to the call of God on his life in order to lead his people out of enslavement. Samson is under a Nazirite covenant with God to deliver the Israelites from oppression. 400 years ago, the Hebrews were led to the promised land by God. But with time, many of their tribes forgot and turned their backs to God. The Philistines came and found them to be weak and divided and they enslaved the Hebrews.In 1170 BC Philistines rule the Hebrews in Gaza. Their rule is brutal and unforgiving, with Hebrews working like slaves under high taxes. The Hebrews are forced to surrender most of their crop as tribute to the Philistines, even though the grain is gathering fungus and mold in the storage warehouses.Samson and his brother Caleb are Hebrews who make a living by stealing food from the Philistines. Samson is a Hebrew strongman from the pits and has defeated Philistine soldiers before. Samson comes from the Tribe of Dan, located at the outskirts of Gaza. Samson and Caleb live with their parents Manoah and Zealphonis (Lindsay Wagner).The Philistine King Balek (Billy Zane) order his son and the commander of his armies Rallah (Jackson Rathbone) to arrest Samson as he is rumored to have great strength, and Balek doesn't want Hebrews to have any hope for freedom.Rallah bribes a Philistine lord to hold a public fight in hopes of drawing Samson out. The lord denounces the Hebrews as a weak people, serving a weak God to further incite Samson. Samson arrives and bests the strongman Bolcom from Egypt, while noticing the lord's daughter, Taren. Rallah finds Samson taking an interest in a Philistine girl Taren (Frances Sholto-Douglas). Samson and Taren fall in love and desire marriage.Rallah enslaves Taren and her father for their failure to kill Samson. Delilah (Caitlin Leahy) is Rallah's mistress and finds his ideas despotic. Rallah wants to kill his father to ascend to the throne. Rallah says that Balek is obsessed with the Hebrews, while Rallah does not consider them worthy of his attention and wants to lead the Philistines in battles against Egypt, Sidon and Media.Samson follows Taren to Gaza and proposes to her, but his parents don't approve. Samson tells Taren that it is his destiny to lead the Hebrews to freedom from the rule of the Philistines.Taren is serving Delilah when she tells her about her love to Samson. Delilah convinces Rallah to give Taren in marriage to Samson to force him under his debt and gratitude. On the night of the wedding Rallah teases Samson. At the wedding feast, Rallah tricks Samson into drinking wine, which is against his Nazirite vows. To get back, Samson asks Rallah a riddle. Rallah threatens Taren with sexual assault to reveal the answer. Taren gets Samson to reveal it, but Delilah overhears, telling Rallah the answer. When Rallah declares the answer, Samson assumes Taren told him and storms off.The bet was for 30 tunics. Since Samson did not have 30 tunics, he goes in search. He finds a Philistine patrol and kills every man to get the 30 tunics. In order to take their tunics, he is forced to touch their dead bodies, breaking his second Nazirite vow. He returns, but Rallah tells Samson that since he did not present himself for the wedding ceremony, Rallah stood in his place. He banishes Samson to the mines. Samson escapes and set fires to the wheat fields outside Gaza. In response Rallah throws Taren and her father into the burning fields, killing them. Defeated, Samson flees to a cave.The Philistines arrive at Samson's village and capture his father Manoah, demanding that Samson be surrendered to them. Rallah tells the villagers that he will spare them, including Samson's family if he sacrifices himself. Samson agrees, but just before the ax, Rallah reneges and kills Samson's father Manoah (Rutger Hauer). Samson takes on the entire Philistine army with just a donkey's jawbone. He kills hundreds but fails to kill Rallah. Rallah loses his eye in the fight. Samson is anointed king of the Hebrews.King Balek banishes Rallah to Egypt and negotiates a truce with Samson. But as the years pass by & Rallah returns, the Philistines atrocities resume in full force. Samson's brother Caleb (Greg Kriek) urges a war against them, but Samson wants peace. Samson goes to the Philistine capital to offer terms of peace with Balek. When Balek rejects the offer, Rallah decides to use Delilah to discover Samson's weakness.Rallah lays traps for Samson and Delilah arrives in time and warns Samson, allowing him time to escape. But Samson is trapped inside the city gates and hence tears the gates right off their hinges to escape. But Samson is wounded, and the next day Delilah finds him in the forest and nurses him back to health. Samson falls in love with Delilah, but it is revealed that Delilah works for Rallah.Delilah gets Samson to reveal that he is a Nazarite and thus has 3 vows (not to drink, not to touch the dead and not to touch razor to his face). He has violated 2 vows and if his hair were to be cut, his strength would leave him. That night Delilah drugs Samson, cuts his hair and hands him over to Rallah who gouges his eyes out.Then Balek insists that Rallah kill Samson. Rallah wants to parade Samson every year to remind the Hebrews of his superiority over them. In their shouting match, Rallah kills Balek and seizes the crown. Delilah comes to the dungeon with bail money to free Samson as penance, but he tells her to use it to free Caleb. Samson declares he is done following his own desires instead of God's and tells Caleb to prepare the Hebrews to capture the city.Samson is taken to the temple of Dagon and abused by the Philistines. He prays once more for God's strength and pushes the two main pillars of the temple. As the building and Dagon's statue collapses, Samson, Rallah and Delilah are killed, but Caleb escapes and rallies the Hebrews.

Storyline

• A Hebrew with an unusual gift of strength must respond properly to the call of God on his life in order to lead his people out of enslavement. After his youthful ambition leads to a tragic marriage, his acts of revenge thrust him into direct conflict with the Philistine Army. As his brother mounts a tribal rebellion, only Samson's (Taylor James') relationship with a Philistine seductress and his final surrender - to the Philistines and to God - turns imprisonment and blindness into final victory. — Pure Flix A narration tells us how the Hebrews had done wrong and were thus put in the hands of the brutal Philistines. The Philistines are collecting food from the Hebrews. In the back, Samson (Taylor James), a Hebrew from the tribe of Dan and his brother Caleb (Greg Kriek) are attempting to steal food while Samson is telling riddles. However, they get caught and are chased through the city by Philistine soldiers. In the meantime, Prince Rallah of the Philistines kills a Hebrew named Tobias (James Ryan) for asking for more food. When Samson and Caleb come home, his parents urge Samson to fight back against the Philistines since he was chosen to do so from birth. However, Samson prefers peace and is reluctant to do so.