Elijah Peel

Elijah Peel is coming off a big hit and halfway through a sold out tour, drinking and snorting his way through life while his manager, Rock Diamond, struggles to keep him on track. Then, as Rock is dragging him to a sound check, Elijah has a heart attack. He's not even forty.

In hospital he meets Jessica, an eight year old with brain cancer who knows his songs and isn't shy about telling him what she thinks of the way he lives, or asking whether he knows Jesus. An unlikely friendship starts to change him, though her mother isn't keen on a rocker with his record getting close to her daughter.

Kevin D. Sepe, who wrote hundreds of commercials and soundtracks before addiction nearly killed him and he found faith, wrote 'Elijah Peel' and directed it with Nathan Ross Murphy. He's said it isn't a true story so much as one with "a ton of truths and parallels" to his own life, and he wrote the songs too.

Robert Malcolm Cumming plays Elijah, and newcomer Evelyn Grace Kite became the youngest ever winner of Best Actress at the International Christian Film & Music Festival for playing Jessica, one of three awards the film took there. Kevin Sorbo is Rock and April Billingsley plays Jessica's mother. Shot in Memphis and executive produced by Willie and Korie Robertson, the couple behind 'The Blind', it opened in US cinemas on 14 August 2026. Its average across the six outlets collected on Movienco is 6.9 out of 10.

• Drama
• Music