Miracles From Heaven review: “Without its cast would have found its way onto TV.”

Miracles From Heaven review: Another Christian drama hits cinemas, but is it considered and inspiring, or just a cash grab?

Religious films continue to do fantastic business in the US, and there’s even a market for them in the UK. We’ve already had God’s Not Dead 2 and Risen hit cinemas this year, and now Miracles From Heaven. Whereas the former two films were based on news stories and biblical texts respectively, Miracles From Heaven is based on a true story and adapted from a memoir written by Christy Beam. Straight off many audience members will decide whether the story is true or not, or in part fabricated, or even if it is downright irresponsible.

Christy Beam’s (Jennifer Garner) daughter Anna (Kylie Rogers) suffers from multiple rare digestive disorders, leaving her in constant pain and unable to eat, instead being fed by tubes. Despite seeing experts such as gastroenterologist Dr. Nurko (Eugenio Derbez), there seems to be little hope for Anna. Now, the real draw for this story is what happens next, which actually happens at the very end of the film despite the fact that it could have inspired many more interesting debates and conversations. Anna eventually falls into a hollowed out tree headfirst and is miraculously cured of her ailments. Anna claims she saw Jesus who told her she would be cured.

Miracles From Heaven is clearly a film made for believers, which is a real shame. It ends once Anna is cured, with no discussion or exploration into how or why. Some independent reading shows that doctors couldn’t fully explain the miracle, but once it happens the film seems to hurry you along to prevent too many questions. It also means that the entire film is build-up and very little payoff. This is doubly infuriating as the film does a balanced job of showing Christy’s conflict with her faith, something that other religious films boil down to a single line of “Why me?”.

Garner gives a very resolute performance, and makes her character believable, while Rogers hits the required emotional beats and tops many other child actors of her age. Martin Henderson plays Kevin Beam, a vet starting up his own practice, which highlights the family’s financial struggles. It’s another strong performance, but it also leaves you wishing for a film that explored the aftermath and how perhaps the need to write a book helped the family financially, or even a film that delved deeper into the American health care system.

As it stands, this is a run of the mill film about hope and faith and never losing the two. There are cheesy moments of dying children and finding God, as well as the obligatory conversion of a non-believing character. When it does seem to grow a pair, such as Christy’s congregation questioning her and her daughter’s faith in relation to why Anna isn’t getting better, it quickly returns to making sure it just appeals to true believers. There’s also the responsibility of a film that suggests falling head first out of a tree can cure diseases, if that’s God’s plan then it’s a pretty bizarre one. Nicely produced, and never too self-absorbed, it is still a bland film that without its cast would have found its way onto TV.

Miracles From Heaven review by Luke Ryan Baldock, June 2016.

Miracles From Heaven is in cinemas from today.