Religious dramas seem to be on the rise. This year alone “God’s Not Dead” and “Mom’s Night Out” have found moderate success.

While most of these films can be criticized for being religious propaganda, none are as bad as Kirk Cameron’s latest attempt.

“Saving Christmas” (PG; 80 min) is both the worst of these religious propaganda films and the worst movie of the year.

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“Saving Christmas” is a religious drama directed by Darren Doane and stars Kirk Cameron, Darren Doane, Bridgette Cameron and Raphi Henly.

Christmastime is here. The tree is up, stockings are hung and the Cameron annual Christmas party is imminent. Kirk, who plays himself, has waited for this party all year. Christmas is his favorite time of the year, no matter what those waging a “war on Christmas” will tell him.

Yet, something is wrong this year. Kirk’s brother in-law, Christian, played by Doane, is not as joyous as everyone else. He thinks the holiday it has lost its true meaning and has become a consumerist’s holiday. Santa has finally pushed out Jesus. Kirk puts it on himself to cheer Christian up and push him towards the true meaning of Christmas.

“Saving Christmas” seems to be made by someone who has never seen a movie before. Somehow through their time on Earth, they never understood the concept of the moving picture.

Kirk Cameron loves to hear his own voice in this film, beginning with him sitting in a chair and talking to audience. This never ends. Sure, fictional characters come in and start vaguely interacting with each other, but he dominates the dialogue.

With all the narration in this movie, it forgets the basic rule of fiction. There needs to be a plot, and things need to happen. It is the basis to which stories have been told since the beginning of storytelling. Homer sent the memo and Cameron must have never recieved it.

The story is based around two men sitting in a vehicle while the Christmas party goes on. Now, this is not the initial problem. Many movies have had fewer characters in a similar position and told a great story. However, nothing happens to either character through this. No one has a character moment. One man makes an argument, the other avoids what he says. Scene over.

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Cameron, both his character and the real actor, never has a leg to stand on throughout this movie. It begins right at the start of the film with Cameron sitting in a chair, spouting about how ridiculous the idea of Christmas originating from a Pagan religion is. Those who believe this are just fun haters, he states.

Watch “God’s Not Dead” if you’re looking for religious drama. Under normal circumstances, that too would be terrible film. But in comparison to “Saving Christmas,” it is Oscar quality.

Stars: Half a star out of 5