GIRL WHO BELIEVES IN MIRACLES, THE
(director/writer:Rich Correll; screenwriter: G.M. Mercier; cinematographer: Ryan Correll; editor: Mark David Spencer/Kelly King; music: Craig Flaster; cast: Mira Sorvino (Bonnie Hopkins), Austyn Johnson (Sara Hopkins), Luke Hammon (Danny Hopkins), Kevin Sorbo (Dr. Ben Riley), Peter Coyote (Sam Donovan), Burgess Jenkins (Alex Hopkins), Darryl Cox (Pastor Jerry ‘Mac’ Macmillan), Tommi Rose (Cindie Kramer), Stephanie Cood (Theresa Cassillas), Paul-Mikél Williams (Mark Miller); Runtime:100; MPAA Rating: PG; producers: Rich Correll, Kevin Waller, Laurence J. Jaffe, Terry Rindal; Netflix; 2021)
“If you believe in miracles according to Christian faith this inspirational religious drama might work for you.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A clunky faith-based film. It’s directed and written by long-time TV director Rich Correll(“Ski Patrol”). If you believe in miracles according to Christian faith this inspirational religious drama might work for you. Others not so inclined might find its simplistic story questionable.
It follows the story of Sara Hopkins (Austyn Johnson), a sweet young girl, who discovers she has the gift of performing miracles, as she brings back to life a dead bird thanks to Jesus. When Sara attends her older brother Danny’s (Luke Hammon) high school soccer game she’s irked that during the game her brother gets shoved to the ground by the opposing team, which results in their scoring the winning goal. Sara is baffled why her prayers for victory weren’t answered. Her wise man grand-father Sam Donovan (Peter Coyote) retorts that “sometimes the answers to our prayers are not revealed to us in the ways we think they will be.” That’s about as deep as things get here.
Later Sara’s prays work to heal the sick, and she heals many in her community including her paralyzed friend Mark (Paul-Mikél Williams). The church sermon tells her reassuringly that faith can move mountains (though I personally never saw such a sight, even if I heard it said by well-meaning folks).
The plot thickens when the sick in town are healed mysteriously by Sara’s prayers, and she attains local fame as a healer.
We then wonder if she can cure herself when she’s diagnosed with an inoperable cancerous brain tumor.
Science seems to have no part in Sara’s miracles. If what you want to believe is that miracles through a belief in God can be an uplifting experience and especially so during the pandemic, believe it to your heart’s content. It’s Just not a film non-believers should or could get excited over.
REVIEWED ON 4/30/2021 GRADE: C