Tom Cruise has built an entire career around one simple idea: if you want the audience to believe the story, you have to risk something.

That philosophy defines the Mission: Impossible franchise. The films are known for their scale, but what keeps audiences leaning forward is the knowledge that the person at the center of the frame is willing to put himself on the line. Cruise famously performs most of his own stunts, and the series is built around that commitment to craft.

That kind of dedication resonates far beyond Hollywood.

Cruise’s personal beliefs differ greatly from Christianity. Yet his approach to filmmaking still reflects something Christians often recognize as common grace. Truth, discipline, and excellence can appear anywhere because all people are created in God’s image.

In storytelling, that commitment matters. And in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, human effort matters more than ever. You can simulate action, but you can’t fake conviction.

That is especially true in the world of stunt performers. Their work often goes unseen, but their risks make the impossible believable. Plumb News’ founder Ian Max Eyre knows stunts.

This week, we are looking at two films connected to that world. One is a massive action franchise. The other is a scrappy project made by someone willing to bet everything on their own story.

Because sometimes the most important leap in filmmaking, and in life, is the one you decide is worth the risk.

Tom Cruise returns as Ethan Hunt in the latest chapter of the long-running spy franchise, racing to stop a powerful artificial intelligence from triggering a global nuclear catastrophe. Packed with daring set pieces and globe-spanning stakes, the film continues a series built on death-defying practical stunts. That commitment was recently recognized when the film won the SAG Award for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble, honoring the real craft behind the action.

WHERE TO WATCH →

Former pro wrestler John Hennigan stars as Boone, a fame-chasing reality-TV bounty hunter whose latest hunt drags him into cartel territory and far more danger than he expected. Blending hard-hitting action and physical comedy, the film proudly wears its ’80s influences. Made by stunt performers who love parkour and directed by Kingdom-minded filmmaker Robert Kirbyson, it’s a scrappy throwback built first and foremost for pure entertainment.

WHERE TO WATCH →

Every filmmaker talks about believing in their project. But few take that belief as far as John Hennigan.

Better known to wrestling fans as John Morrison, Hennigan was staring at a comfortable career when he made a decision that surprised many around him. In 2011, he turned down a three-year WWE contract extension.

Instead, he chose to gamble on himself.

That gamble eventually became Boone: The Bounty Hunter, a passion project Hennigan spent years bringing to life. When financing failed to materialize the way he hoped, he made an extraordinary choice: he sold his house to help fund the film himself.

The project blends the worlds he knows best — professional wrestling, parkour, and stunt-driven action — into a high-energy comedy about a fame-seeking bounty hunter chasing relevance. But beneath the action is a more personal question.

As Hennigan explained while promoting the film, “Boone wants to be a hero, and he identifies being a hero as being famous. Over the course of the movie, he realizes that fame is not the right way to equate heroism.”

In other words, the story explores identity and the tension between the character someone performs and the person they really are.

While the movie didn’t become a breakout hit at the box office, it stands as a reminder of something essential in filmmaking: sometimes the most meaningful projects exist simply because someone refused to stop believing in them.

The results are in! 67% of you voted for The sense that something unseen is pulling the strings in last week’s poll: When you watch a film, what unsettles you most?

A single decision can often shape creative careers. Stay where things are stable. Or step away and try to build something of your own.

While the safer path usually looks obvious in the moment, it's sometimes the work that matters most that begins when someone decides to create the opportunity themselves.

That approach sharpens the P.R.O.V.E. Method:

The takeaway isn’t that every creator should walk away from stability. It’s that meaningful creative momentum often begins when someone decides the work itself is worth the risk.

Follow other creators taking these risks at Plumb Tales.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9 (ESV)

Courage often looks dramatic in the movies. A leap from a plane. A chase across rooftops. A last-second rescue.

But in real life, it's usually much quieter.

It can look like stepping into a project that may not succeed. Trusting a calling even when the outcome is uncertain. Or refusing to let fear make the decision for you.

Scripture does not promise that every risk will succeed. But it does remind us that courage is not something we manufacture on our own.

The same God who calls people forward also promises to go with them.

Whether on a film set, in a creative pursuit, or in whatever work is in front of us, the invitation remains the same: move forward with courage, trusting that God is with us wherever the path leads.

Until next time,

THE PLUMB NEWS TEAM