The new movie Breakthrough is, to me, a movie I’m happy was finally released. Happy because I saw the same trailer for this thing at nearly every movie I went to see (and you know that’s a lot – dozens of times seeing Chrissy Metz wake her son and Topher Grace say “this kid is LIT!”). I’m not sure why this was pushed so hard nor why only the one trailer. The long national nightmare is over and I’ll never have to see it again. As to the movie, yeah, I saw it. Of course I saw it!
The film is a Christian/faith-based story about a boy who falls through the ice on a lake and is underwater for fifteen minutes before being pulled out and sent to the hospital. It’s based on a true story from 2015 and, frankly, you know how it ends. They didn’t make a film about a kid who died and stayed dead after drowning after all. So the suspense is ultimately pretty low but the drama still manages to be earnest, thoughtful, and well-acted.
The script does do a pretty good job of suggesting some nuance to the story (the boy miraculously survives despite nay-saying doctors) by pointing out human failings, even from the devout mother. I appreciated how much gray-area they offered, including anger from people who don’t understand why their loved ones died while the boy survived. That’s pretty uncommon for this latest round of faith-based flicks. It ultimately never comes down harshly on faith and belief but it does at least offer us believable humans with believable failings.
Ultimately, this is a well told film that doesn’t offer some of the pitfalls of other faith-based films. This isn’t an angry movie that hates on atheists, muslims, and other non-believers. It doesn’t have a persecution complex – the world against Christians. It’s just about a town coming together (in prayer) to help a wounded neighbor. It’s a good message about community and, while it offers a miracle over medical science, it still celebrates the EMTs, police, doctors, and nurses who helped (and the community who prayed).
So, yeah, if you want a good-natured appeal to community and faith wrapped in solid, dramatic acting and pretty good writing, this one is worth seeing. It’s not a great film but I think its genuinely moving and I’m sure some of it is based on factual accounts of the actual event.
Score: 84