Film Crew Brings Ancient Parable to Life in Utah Desert

In the dusty hills of Goshen, Utah, director James Dalrymple is making ancient wisdom feel urgent again. His new short film "The Good Samaritan" transforms Jesus's famous parable into something you can see, feel, and maybe even smell.

Dalrymple filmed on a meticulously recreated first-century Jerusalem set owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Stone walls bake under real sun, and the air carries hints of dust and animals, creating an immersive backdrop for a story about choosing mercy.

The film does something clever with the original parable. Instead of keeping the characters abstract, Dalrymple gives the beaten traveler a name, a family, and a reason for his journey—he's selling goods to help his village.

Producer Howard Collette explains the approach: "We add some backstory so we can put ourselves in the minds and hearts of the people back in the first century." The added context makes the priest and Levite's decision to walk past the injured man feel even more painful.

The attack scene doesn't pull punches. Choreographed stunt work and careful makeup show what "beaten and broken" actually looks like, making the Samaritan's choice to stop more meaningful.

That choice is the heart of everything. In the original story, Samaritans and Jews carried centuries of mistrust—making the Samaritan's compassion shocking to first-century listeners.

Behind the camera is a team that left Hollywood careers for this exact kind of storytelling. First assistant Jon Farrell spent seven years at Pixar and DreamWorks before joining Emmaus Road Media, the studio behind the film.

"I wanted to work on things that had a lasting impact," Farrell says. The parables are "timeless stories that Jesus told almost two thousand years ago, and yet they're so timely."

The Ripple Effect

The Good Samaritan is just the beginning. Emmaus Road Media is already in Morocco filming their second parable, The Ten Virgins, with crew members missing birthdays and family time to bring these ancient stories to modern screens.

Their work arrives at a moment when many people feel overwhelmed by polarization and anxiety. Dalrymple sees the parables as navigational tools for handling that noise—practical guides for living with compassion.

The production team measures success differently than typical filmmakers. "If someone feels the spirit of it, then I've been successful," Dalrymple says.

The film is now streaming on Angel.com, asking viewers a question that still matters: Who is my neighbor?