The Forge

The Forge is a 2024 American family drama about Isaiah Wright, a nineteen-year-old who has spent the year since high school living for basketball and video games while drifting without a job or any plan for adulthood. His single mother, Cynthia, reaches the end of her patience and gives him an ultimatum: take responsibility for his life or move out. With pressure coming from his friends as well as from his mother, Isaiah takes a job at Moore Fitness, where the owner becomes an unexpected mentor. The guidance he receives there, together with his mother's prayers, pushes him to confront his past, set aside his selfishness and consider that his life may have a purpose beyond what he had imagined.

The film was directed by Alex Kendrick, who wrote the screenplay with Stephen Kendrick and whose earlier features as director include Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Fireproof, Courageous, War Room and Overcomer. Aspen Kennedy Wilson plays Isaiah, with Priscilla C. Shirer as Cynthia, Cameron Arnett as Joshua, Karen Abercrombie as Miss Clara, B.J. Arnett as Janelle Moore and Ken Bevel as James among a credited cast of fifty-five. It runs 123 minutes.

Made for a reported five million dollars, the film took in around forty million dollars worldwide, a strong return relative to its production cost. On IMDb it holds 6.8/10 from roughly 5,900 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 8.2/10 from 358 votes, indicating a smaller but notably more enthusiastic audience there.