This article models an exercise in media literacy and theological reflection by identifying the Manichean worldview and redemptive violence prevalent in many Hollywood studio films and exploring some of the reasons these stories are told so often. Filmmaker interviews and commentaries reveal ways in which many filmmakers feel compelled by film's (a) visual, (b) character-driven, (c) time-limited, and (d) affective natures to change the narratives of their source materials into stories of redemptive violence.