Enraptured by Rapture: Production Context, Biblical Interpretation, and Evangelical Eschatology in The Rapture, Left Behind, and This is the End

The Book of Revelation's place in the popular imaginary has been fueled by both its popularity within evangelical eschatology and its endless evocations within mainstream film and TV. Both evangelicalism and popular culture frequently equate the events of John’s Apocalypse with the rapture, a selective reading of New Testament verses which envisions God’s faithful being called to heaven in advance of the Tribulation. This paper analyzes three distinct films which mediate on both the rapture and Revelation: The Rapture (1991), Left Behind: The Movie (2000), and This is the End (2013). Analyzing these films within their respective modes of production reveals that each film’s presentation of the end-times is informed by their narrative conventions and intended audiences. Of these three films, however, only This is the End, the mainstream studio comedy with the least intellectual pretensions, reflects the ethical rubric for salvation originally emphasized by John in Revelation.