Breathtaking Texas

The landscapes and wildlife of Texas are as exotic as anything found in Africa. That’s the impression the new documentary Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story, currently in select theaters, is certain to give viewers. The documentary contains montages of breathtaking panoramas and close-ups of remarkable creatures.

Well-placed cameras eavesdrop on the family life of three of Texas’ 80 ocelots. A drone tracks a bison herd galloping across peach-colored soil against a backdrop of hills striated in various purples. Shown in slow motion, a red-tailed hawk snags one of the 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats choking the twilight skies around Bracken Cave near San Antonio.

Sadly, Lone Star–drawling narrator Matthew McConaughey sees only what “nature has selected.” There’s no acknowledgment of the Creator, whose handiwork this outstanding film captures so well. In the last chapters of Job, God didn’t point to exploding volcanoes as proof of His power. He described animals—the behemoth and leviathan (whatever they are). God also could have made His case with any of Texas’ amazing creatures shown in this film: resourceful black bears, a tri-hued green jay that rivals the African macaw for beauty, or blind catfish in subterranean cave waters that can live four years between meals. Deep in the Heart (rated PG) laments man’s poor stewardship of God’s creation. One awful example: A late 19th-century photo shows bison skulls piled 20 feet high and 100 feet deep.

In July, the film will arrive on multiple streaming platforms.