"Why are Christian movies so painfully bad?"

An interesting article from Vox, using a Christian film called Old Fashioned as an example:

Old Fashioned’s problem isn’t that it’s telling a religious story. The biggest problem here is it’s desperately trying to invalidate a secular one. ... The end result is that the Christian product seems like a knock-off, a cheap alternative.
... There’s an old maxim in Hollywood that goes, “If you want to send a message, use Western Union.” Embedding explicit takeaways in film is something that bedevils some of the worst films out there, regardless of whether or not they’re religious. Sending a message is usually a good way to create a bland, boring mess.
Brian Godawa, Christian screenwriter, thinks it’s important to note that Christian films aren’t the only ones that are explicitly preachy. All films, says Godawa, “have messages to some degree or another, and writers and directors know full well they’re embodying those messages in their storytelling.”