‘Relationship Goals’ uses romance to point viewers to Christ, say Michael Todd, Kelly Rowland

For Pastor Michael Todd, producer DeVon Franklin and star Kelly Rowland, the romantic comedy “Relationship Goals” is an opportunity to point viewers toward Christ and encourage deeper discipleship through the language of story.

“This movie is a seed,” Franklin, one of the producers of the film "Heaven is For Real," and other faith-based projects, told The Christian Post of the Amazon MGM Studios film, releasing Feb. 4. 

“There are going to be people who watch it who don’t have a relationship with God at all. And maybe they walk away thinking, ‘Oh, … maybe that’s what I’m missing.’ I’m kind of crazy enough to believe a movie like this can actually start someone’s relationship with God.”

Based on Todd’s New York Times bestselling bookRelationship Goals: How to Win at Dating, Marriage, and Sex, the film follows Leah Caldwell (Rowland), a driven television producer competing to run New York’s top morning show, whose carefully controlled life is disrupted when her ex, Jarrett Roy (Cliff “Method Man” Smith), re-enters her world claiming he has changed, spiritually and emotionally.

Todd, lead pastor of Transformation Church in Oklahoma and the film’s creator, said the goal was never to overtly preach, but to model faith through story.

“If people do want to go deeper, I think the movie is a seed,” he said. “People can watch it whether they know God or whether they’re an atheist. … If they're interested, if they lean in, they can actually go get this book. The book that's being talked about in the movie is not fictional. It is very real and it has those principles … it’s an invitation to a relationship with God."

“This is a beautiful picture of what can happen when we put the right people in the right places and understand the goal and the aim is to reach a lot of people. It can be fun, it could be entertaining, and it could be meaningful, and we're excited to see how people's lives change.”

Rowland, who shot to fame as one-third of Destiny’s Child, said that the message resonated deeply with her character and with her own life. Early in the film, Leah’s friends remind her that God has a plan and that she must trust it, even when it doesn’t make sense; something Rowland said mirrors her own experience.

“There were moments where everything around me felt hard, and I didn’t realize at the time that God was moving me to the next level. The more I tried to control everything, the more it slipped through my fingers,” she reflected.

“When I finally threw my hands up and said, ‘Fine,’ things started shifting; my thinking, my execution, everything,” Rowland said. “He didn’t need my help. When I moved out of the way, it all worked out.”

Todd, who, with his wife, Natalie, has co-pastored Transformation Church since 2015, said those moments of surrender are central to the story, particularly because transformation is rarely clean or immediate.

That realism, Todd said, was intentional, especially for faith audiences. “Relationship Goals” features several real-life testimonies from church members who share how the pastor’s book changed their lives. The film also includes several scenes featuring worship services at the church, and the Todds are interviewed about "Relationship Goals" in another scene.

Though faith themes are woven throughout “Relationship Goals,” there are some moments viewers will want to be aware of in the PG-13 film, including implied premarital sex, some suggestive material and language.

“All transformation is messy,” Todd said. “There’s not one baby born in a clean scenario. There’s not one meal prepared in a spotless kitchen. Growth takes work, and that work isn’t always pretty.”

“God doesn’t bless who you pretend to be,” he said. “He blesses who you really are. We needed to show people struggling, people with long lists, people who don’t even want a relationship, because that’s real life. And then show how faith, when your aim is fixed, can actually change that.”

Franklin added that translating biblical principles into an accessible romantic comedy was key to reaching beyond church walls.

“The principles in Pastor Todd’s book are universal and faith-based,” Franklin said. “My job was to put them on their feet through characters people want to watch. You see the poster, you see Kelly Rowland and Method Man, and you think, ‘I want to see that.’ Then once you’re in, the Word is already there.”

Rowland said she hopes the film especially encourages women who feel stuck in seasons of waiting to trust God for their futures. Especially ahead of Valentine’s Day, she added, singleness is too often framed as loneliness rather than opportunity.

“I would tell them to enjoy their time with themselves,” she said. “Delight in yourself, because who’s going to delight in you more, besides God, than you?”

“I have girlfriends right now who see their season as lonely,” Rowland said. “I’m excited for them to see this film and hopefully be encouraged that this season can be celebrated.”

Ultimately, the trio said the film’s success won’t be measured by box office numbers alone, but by changed hearts.

“I hope people walk away with joy,” Rowland said. “There’s so much going on in the world. I hope it makes people smile, encourages them and makes them want to watch it again, and tell their friends.”

“Relationship Goals” premieres on Prime Video on Feb. 4.