"The 5th Wave" appears to be just another movie about the world's destruction, but for one movie reviewer, the film managed to make "an argument for the existence of God" when one of its characters—an alien, no less—talked about love.
Writing for WND, movie reviewer Drew Zahn says at first glance, "The 5th Wave," which is based on the New York Times bestselling novel written by Rick Yancey, "looks like just another teeny-bopper action/romance flick."
The movie is about an alien invasion of Earth with the aliens using "waves" of flood, disease, and many more in their attempt to wipe mankind off the face of the Earth. When people are faced with the fifth wave, a 16-year-old survivor named Cassie Sullivan tries to protect her little brother Sammy.
"The movie's action is reasonably entertaining, and it pulls the heartstrings pretty hard, but like most movies of this genre, the absence of meaningful adult characters and the all-too-obvious reality that all the young people are unrealistically Hollywood gorgeous does pigeonhole the movie as squarely for teens only," notes Zahn.
But he appreciates the scene where an alien tries to talk about love. "Our kind believe love is just a trick," the alien from the movie says. "A way to protect your genetic future."
The alien is then asked, "Do you really believe that?" And the alien replies, "Love's not a trick. It's real."
For Zahn, the conversation is important because "it plants a major seed of doubt in the prevalent, naturalist worldview of our time."
"Bolstered by the theory of evolution, this worldview suggests the natural universe is all there is and whatever emotions or instincts we feel are merely a product of that evolution. There's no room for the supernatural, and without the ability to put Him in a test tube, there's no room for God, either," he explains.
"But still, there's something deep inside us that rejects this notion. Something that wants to believe in purpose, in design, in things – like love – that are greater than evolutionary leftovers."
Zahn adds that every time a person says "I love you," that person is already arguing that "something more than the natural is real." In doing so, people are making "an argument for God."
