Is Ordinary Angels a Christian movie? The new Hilary Swank film tackles community and togetherness with an undertone of religious themes in this true story of small town Kentucky.
What is Ordinary Angels About?
Struggling hairdresser Sharon Stevens (played by Hilary Swank) meets widower Ed Schmitt (Alan Ritchson), who is juggling being a single father and trying to save his youngest daughter whose life depends on a liver transplant.
We flash back to Ed and his wife happily welcoming their second baby, a daughter they decide to call Michelle, whose name the movie tells us means "gift from God."
However, Ed doesn't get the happy ending he was hoping for. Five years later, his wife dies suddenly and he is left to raise their two daughters by himself.
Michelle, we learn, was born with biliary atresia and will die if she doesn't receive a liver transplant soon. Ed can barely afford her operation after his late wife's hospital bills left him destitute.
Sharon, a hairdresses with a drinking problem, steps in to help, spurred on by the desire to turn her life around. She responds to a newspaper article about Ed's situation and starts organizing a donation drive to raise money for his daughter's transplant.
Considering that the inspirational nature of the movie comes close to religious themes such as the parable of the good Samaritan, some fans are curious: is Ordinary Angels actually a Christian movie?
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Is Ordinary Angels a Christian Movie? True-To-Life Story Explored
While parts of Ordinary Angels revolve around the church and religious community in small-town Kentucky in the early 1990s, it is not entirely a Christian movie. Well, kind of.
The film's producers, Andrew and Jon Erwin, who founded the Kingdom Story Company, are upfront about the message they want to send. The Erwins make films based on their Christian faith with the goal of "simply spread[ing] the Gospel". Their work has gained a foothold in America's growing faith-based movie scene over the past few years.
The Erwin Brothers also released I Still Believe (2020) and Jesus Revolution (2023), which are more explicit with their faith-based message than Ordinary Angels.
Ordinary Angels, however, hopes to appeal to a broader audience by not making it all about Christianity.
In an interview with Deseret News, Andrew Erwin said the idea for the movie came to him through Dave Matthews (yes, that one, of the Dave Matthews Band) who found out about the true story the plot is based on, from a church community in Kentucky.
Ordinary Angels is now available to watch in theaters, starting Friday, 23 February.
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