Angel Studios’ 92% Rotten Tomatoes WWII Movie Is Challenging Keanu Reeves at the Box Office

In an alternate universe, The Matrix could have been sold as a religious picture and released by Angel Studios. However, the faith-based powerhouse is sticking to what it knows best. It recently released the World War II drama Truth & Treason, which incidentally clashed at the box office against the comedy movie Good Fortune, in which Keanu Reeves plays an angel. Written and directed by Aziz Ansari and also featuring Seth Rogen, the movie couldn’t crack the $5 million mark in its underwhelming domestic box office debut, despite mostly positive reviews. Truth & Treason, on the other hand, generated around half as much in the same time frame.

The movie took the fifth spot on the weekend’s domestic charts, finishing behind Paul Thomas Anderson‘s One Battle After Another. The number one movie this weekend was Black Phone 2, followed by Tron: Ares. Overall business stood at around $70 million, as the marketplace deals with an unexpected autumn lull. Directed by Matt Whitaker, Truth & Treason is based on the real-life story of Helmuth Hübener, a teenager who was executed in 1942 for opposing the Nazi regime. What makes the movie an ideal title for Angel Studios is the fact that Hübener was a Mormon. Director Mel Gibson tackled similar themes in his $180 million-grossing, Oscar-nominated hit Hacksaw Ridge.

Like most faith-based movies, and, indeed, most movies distributed by Angel Studios, Truth & Treason has been embraced by audiences. They awarded it an A grade on CinemaScore — the highest of any new release this week, above the B+ earned by Good Fortune and the B earned by Black Phone 2. Truth & Treason is also sitting at a near-perfect 96% audience score on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ score is currently 92%.

Angel Studios Has Captured Its Audience

The most successful movie ever released by Angel Studios is Sound of Freedom, which earned around $250 million worldwide. However, the movie was controversial for its Q-Anon-coded narrative. More recently, Angel Studios has released The King of Kings, which grossed nearly $80 million worldwide and scored a 97% audience score on RT, and The Last Rodeo, which holds a 95% audience score on RT. Last year, the studio debuted Bonhoeffer, another WWII-era drama, which flopped at the box office despite a 92% audience score on RT. You can watch Truth & Treason in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.