The cast and crew behind the upcoming faith-based movie Ordinary Angels are revealing new details about the plot, saying it will be a "call to action" for Christians to put their differences aside and to help others in need.
The film, scheduled for an Oct. 13 release by Lionsgate, was made by the same company, Kingdom Story, that produced such films as Jesus Revolution, American Underdog, I Can Only Imagine and I Still Believe.
"If Jesus Revolution is a film that's a cause," director and writer Jon Gunn (The Case for Christ) said, then "Ordinary Angels is a call to action."
It will star Alan Ritchson (Reacher, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) and two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank (Million Dollar Baby, Logan Lucky).
"This is a story that inspires us to really remember that we're only as good as the community that we have around us," Ritchson said. "… I want to be a part of stories like that."
Gunn and Ritchson made the comments during a Zoom "prayer call" involving the cast and crew from Ordinary Angels.
"It's a true story set in 1993 in Louisville, Ky., and it's set against the worst blizzard in the history of that state," Gunn said. "And Alan plays this hard-working, blue-collar man, he's a roofer. His wife has recently died. He's got two daughters and his youngest daughter is also ill with a very rare disease and will die if she doesn't get a (liver) transplant. He's swimming in medical bills and debt."
Swank portrays a hairdresser who is battling alcoholism and who steps into the widower's life to help.
"She doesn't have a lot in her life," Gunn said. "And when she sees this family, it touches her heart and she just decides I'm going to help them whether they like it or not."
She helps him clear thousands of dollars in medical bills. More significantly, she rallies the community to help him get to the hospital after a major snowstorm slams the city just as a liver becomes available.
"Hilary Swank's character is just always determined and will never take no for an answer. She mobilizes this entire community," Gunn said. "… Through the Southeast Christian Church and [pastor] Dave Stone, they all get on the radio and on the news together and an entire community comes out and carves a path through this snowstorm …to save her life."
Related:
'Reacher' Actor Alan Ritchson Wants the 'Name of Christ in Movie Theaters'
Photo courtesy: ©Sony, used with permission.
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.