As the release of the much-anticipated Fifty Shades of Grey movie edges closer, the inevitable has happened – someone has created a Christian alternative.
Filmmaker Rik Swartzwelder's 'Old Fashioned' tells the story of a former frat boy (played by himself) who attempts to embark on an "old fashioned" courtship with a free-spirited young woman who moves into the apartment above his antique shop.
The film centres on love and romance. Written long before Fifty Shades reached Hollywood, Swarztwelder is keen to stress that it "provides a stark contrast" to EL James' hit novel.
"That's the point," he said. "The conversation should be pushed. Not all fantasy is harmless and not all paths lead to true and lasting love. We have two movies here, both about people with troubled pasts...but taking very different approaches to getting romance right."
"We didn't create our film in response to any other specific book or film, at all...but the decision to hold-off on our release so it could open alongside Fifty Shades? Yes, that was indeed deliberate."
Both films will open in cinemas across the US on Valentine's Day weekend 2015. "We thought it was a unique opportunity to set up a film as antidote," Swartzwelder added. "Think of a young woman you care about...which love story would you wish for her?"
In a short clip at the beginning of the film's trailer, the writer and director says his team is "clearly...picking a fight with Fifty Shades".
"We're not only picking a fight, we're picking a fight with the school ground bully, likely to get our nose busted in two. So why would a modestly budgeted indie romantic drama like Old Fashioned want to jump in the arena and go toe-to-toe in a David v. Goliath standoff with a cultural juggernaut like that? Well, honestly, because we believe it matters. Love and romance are created by God and designed to lead to marriage and physical intimacy, created by God. And these are good things," he explains.
"And I gotta believe – I find it impossible to not believe – that deep down we don't want to celebrate something more than Fifty Shades."