1 /10

Warning: Spoilers

It's current year, and that means it's time to act like a simple cheesy low-quality film is controversial in some way.



This film is perhaps done by a team that was passionate about telling a message rather than producing a quality film out of love for the medium itself. There is somehow a thick layer of ingenuity in every performance despite this film's characters supposedly being real people who exist on the planet Earth. While the fundamental elements are in place for a film, they come across as a pale imitation of the thousands of dramatic films and shows that preceded it. Lead actress Ashley Bratcher is even dolled up to look like Julianne Moore in Still Alice without an understanding of how it was the great acting performances made that film intriguing. Shots are flat and sloppily attempt to follow rule of thirds most of the time, and there's an abundance of shot-reverse shot and people talking for ages, which is a major problem when the film lacks any seasoned veterans. Though this isn't the most painful Christian film I've ever seen, it certainly seems that there's a lack of passion for the art of filmmaking in the community.



I found myself almost being sucked into this film at times only to immediately dip out mentally as not a single line is delivered with sincerity. Everything is exactly as is - a bunch of people saying lines that were written by someone else. I'm not going to claim this team is money-hungry, because this is obviously not the route to go, but it's more like they wish to have their cake and eat it too. The film was destined for inadequacy when the team decided their message was more important than the performance, the writing, or even the viewers. It would not be hard to make a great film out of this as it hits hard on the emotional level and there's truth to it that's blown out of proportion and rendered wholly unbelievable due to amateurish directing and a good-enough mentality.



Abortion should be taken seriously, regardless of one's beliefs. It's a serious medical procedure, and there are many people that clearly treat pregnancy very lightly. Is having surgery or taking Misoprostol really better than practicing safe sex? That's perhaps the most frustrating thing about this film. There are great themes and great discussions at play here, but the execution is painful to watch in all the wrong ways and thus the dramatic moments are difficult to take seriously. It's not even so bad it's good, as it is cheaply imitating better films before it, and as a result it's incredibly dull all around. When people make films like these, they should realize, others are not going to look at it in the same light that they do. When someone disagrees with you, preaching to the choir does nothing but drive them further away. This film certainly didn't sway me on the subject as I may be now more neutral than ever before, but then again I'm a rather tough person to convince. Even still, it's a poor argument as it offers nothing for the opposing side to latch onto. I know the intention was for Abby to be the latching point, but the film practically opens with the turning point for our character, thus avoiding acknowledgment of the arguments for pro-choice.



Also, what's the deal with the trial scene? With such a bare-bones plot, you'd figure the obvious choice would be to focus the film on the trial as several of the most beloved films center around a trial. These are always long processes that films can never do justice for, and it's preposterous for the trial to be skipped over in its entirety. They consult a lawyer, and then in a smash-cut to "You guys DO know we won, right?" and the heroes cheesily tell off the one-dimensional baddies in the film. But I skipped over one part: a fakeout so obvious that it's not even worth mentioning, because you already know it.



The film then ends with a dig at Planned Parenthood. Yeah, of course you didn't get permission from them to make this movie, because you don't need permission to criticize under fair use. It's hardly impressive or brave. Imagine if Spotlight ended with a disclaimer that they didn't receive the Pope's blessing to make their film. It just sort of cheapens the message.



Truly, we live in a society.