Bad Counselors review sees frat comedy hiding a church-camp sermon
Variety says Chris Dowling’s PG-13 comedy mixes frat-bro antics with Christian lessons, with Matt Cornett leading the cast.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
A Bad Counselors review by Variety critic Guy Lodge says Chris Dowling’s new PG-13 comedy takes a rowdy college setup and steers it toward Christian uplift, with mixed comic results.
The film, released by Fathom Entertainment, follows two hard-partying fraternity friends who end up working at a Christian summer camp after a community service sentence. Lodge writes that the movie tries an unusual route for faith-based cinema by wrapping its message in the shape of a frat comedy, complete with broad PG-13 jokes and a cameo from an American Pie alum.
Variety’s verdict is that the approach is novel, but the laughs thin out as the film moves closer to its spiritual message. Lodge says the movie is more restrained about religion than some other faith-based films, while still building toward explicitly Christian lessons.
What is Bad Counselors about?
Matt Cornett plays Grayson Fuller, a fraternity alpha type introduced during a pants-free Zoom interview for a finance internship, according to Variety. His best friend Tyler, played by Ramon Reed, joins him for nights of heavy partying that eventually bring the pair to the attention of local police officer Montgomery, played by Missi Pyle.
After their behavior leads to community service, Grayson spots an escape route through church camp. The night before, Variety says, Grayson and Tyler accidentally wandered into a megachurch worship session after mistaking its lights and music for a nightclub.
That encounter puts them in the orbit of Becky, played by McKaley Miller, who tries to recruit them as counselors. Their sentence is then translated into a week at Burning Bush Camp, where pastor Tom, played by Chris Klein, allows the underqualified duo to help with campers.
The camp storyline brings in Jenna, played by Brec Bassinger, as Tom’s daughter and a fellow counselor. Nathan Gamble plays Dallas, a youth pastor who becomes wary of Grayson’s growing interest in Jenna, and Lodge singles out Gamble’s performance as the film’s sharpest and most layered.
Is Bad Counselors faith-based?
Yes. Variety describes Bad Counselors as a faith-based film that uses the framework of a college-guy redemption comedy. A faith-based movie is one built around religious themes, often Christian ones, and here the camp setting turns Grayson and Tyler’s misbehavior into a lesson in belief and personal change.
Lodge says the movie does not turn Burning Bush Camp into a target for ridicule, which keeps it friendlier to church audiences but limits the comic bite of the premise. He argues that the film has little room for sharper conflict because most of its characters are presented as fundamentally decent.
The review says Tyler begins adjusting to the sober camp environment, while Grayson struggles with Christian rules, rituals and his assignment as mentor to Patrick, an awkward camper played by Brayden Gleave. By the end, Variety says, the film shifts away from comedy and into a more direct statement of faith, including interpretive dance set to Christian rock.
Bad Counselors was reviewed online by Variety on July 23, 2026. The film runs 105 minutes and carries an MPA rating of PG-13. Its screenplay is credited to Taylor Grabowsky, Ryan Gunnarson and Dexter Masland, with Alexander Rivera as cinematographer, Chris Witt as editor and Grant Fonda as composer.
Variety says the film may reach its largest audience after its limited theatrical run, particularly on VOD and among church youth groups similar to the one shown in the story. Lodge adds that broader interest may depend in part on whether Cornett’s profile grows through the Prime series Every Year After.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.