God's Children follows siblings whose developing feelings conflict with the expectations of their strict evangelical upbringing. Hannah's attraction to a boy outside that world and Timotheus's feelings for another boy expose the pressure to deny parts of themselves.
Frauke Lodders presents the family's religious control with an effective sobriety. Conversations circle around faith so persistently that there seems little space for the children to form independent identities. That atmosphere of confinement is the drama's strongest foundation.
Flora Li Thiemann makes Hannah's conflict between belief and self-determination tangible. Serafin Mishiev gives Timotheus's struggle with himself nuance, while Mark Waschke's father brings a threatening rigidity to the household. The performances make the pressure immediate.
The spare visual approach suits the emotional coldness of the environment. Church and counselling scenes become disturbing through their restrained presentation, rather than requiring exaggerated effects. The setting feels convincingly oppressive.
Some developments are more constructed than I would like, and the parallel crises can make the drama feel overloaded. Tighter passages might have sharpened the emotional pull.
Nevertheless, this is an impressive film willing to confront difficult questions about religious coercion, identity and freedom. Its strength comes from showing what the demand to suppress oneself feels like to the people living under it. The siblings and the atmosphere stay with me beyond the final scene.