After his young daughter (Amelie Eve) is abducted and murdered,
a previously devout man (Sam Worthington) has a crisis of faith until a
supernatural encounter with the Trinity (Octavia Spencer, Avraham Aviv Alush
and Sumire) alters his perspective. Beautiful settings and a sense of humor
help to keep director Stuart Hazeldine's screen version of William Paul Young's
bestselling novel from bogging down in sentimentality. Patches of dialogue
discounting the value of religion, however — here implicitly set in opposition
to faith broadly speaking — and hinting that God is indifferent to how we
worship him mean that impressionable viewers should keep their distance. So,
too, does the morally problematic treatment of a dark and long-kept secret.
Overall, though, this is a serious effort to tackle the problem of evil from a
Christian perspective that grown viewers of faith can, with a few reservations,
welcome.
Watch out for: Scenes of
domestic violence, mature themes requiring careful discernment.
Rated: A-III, adults; MPAA:
PG-13
© Arlington Catholic Herald 2017