Nefarious was a movie that caused a lot of headlines when it was released in theaters, in no small part because it was a Christian film that was good...and that's something that's just not supposed to happen. 

People made going out of their way to see it a priority, and in some cases, it was going out of your way. The closest theater to me that was playing took half an hour to get to, depending on traffic. Still, people went and saw it, making Nefarious something of an indie success with $5.4 million despite not being a movie from a huge studio and only being available in select theaters.

But it would appear that leaving the theater created even more opportunity for Steve Deace's film as reports say that it's now outsold its own theatrical run in the home market.  

According to Bounding Into Comics, the film video-on-demand (VOD) has been a breakout success: 

Alliance Entertainment CEO Jeff Walker commented on the success of the film’s VOD release, “Nefarious is our biggest release to date and the digital sales we managed on this title was just exceptional.”

Walker added, “In addition to our state-of-the-art physical distribution operations, we have built a robust digital video platform that can support great movies like Nefarious that provided Believe Entertainment with a complete physical and digital distribution solution.”

The strategy of Nefarious bringing in more on VOD compared to its theatrical release was always part of the film’s distribution model.

As Bounding noted, it was always likely to succeed at home more than it did in theaters given the limited availability of the silver screens. Regardless, it shows the popularity of the film and the fact that even after leaving theaters, people didn't forget about it. Moreover, physical copies are set to release this month as well, which will also likely add a couple of million to the total preorder numbers: 

Nefarious will see a Blue-Ray and DVD release this month. Mill Creek Entertainment announced the film arrives on both Blu-ray and DVD on August 15 and will be available at “major U.S. and Canadian retailers and e-commerce sties including Walmart, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Target, and Amazon.”

Mill Creek Entertainment revealed in the press release the Blu-ray and DVD release is the company’s “top-ranking Amazon pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray. Initial placement of over 50,000 units to cover heavy projected demand for the physical copy of this great movie. The DVD and Blu-ray™ will be available to over 10,000 brick and mortar storefronts serviced by Alliance Entertainment.”

Nefarious is a film worth paying attention to. It peels back the modern sentiment put on our culture and reveals that it's not the morally superior lie that too many people think it is. It truly challenged, for instance, the left's view on how modern culture has advanced humanity. They didn't appreciate that one bit, and naturally, the film was attacked relentlessly. 

The importance of the film can't be overstated, especially now. Its success is a testament to the fact that Christian films can indeed be good and, more than that, that films can challenge mainstream narratives to great success. 

It's impressive that the film's popularity didn't slow down once it left the theaters and the headlines. Somehow, quietly, the film only became more popular, and it doesn't look like it's slowing down yet. 

(READ: You Need to See Nefarious)