Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot
It’s natural to be suspicious of an Angel Studios picture after all, the Utah-based movie studio made its mark last year with the surprising box office success of the child trafficking thriller “Sound of Freedom.” The film raked in $242 million off the back of a QAnon conspiracy-peddling star and the overwhelming sensation of fighting back against the godless, “woke” Hollywood system that, many devotees presume, peddle and abuse children themselves.
So it’s a surprise, maybe even a self-defeating one, that “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot,” the studio’s followup, is as milquetoast as it gets. It’s a feel good story about children’s welfare that takes its subject matter seriously and downplays sensationalism. It’s your standard warm, fuzzy tale of Christian love that plays to the church set in ways that are hardly objectionable, even as it plays those notes straight down the middle with little finesse.
The titular Possum Trot is, of course, the setting of this based on a true story tale, a majority Black small town in East Texas fueled by its vibrant Baptist church, led by charismatic reverend W.C. Martin (Demetrius Grosse). His “First Lady,” Donna (Nika King), struggles to keep her head above water with two children and piling bills. And yet, in a moment of utmost turmoil, she hears God’s voice whistling through the trees. She’s been called, she says, she wants to adopt more kids. “Human ones?” W.C. barks skeptically. Still, they press on anyway out Godly duty.
It is this move which has Susan Ramsey puzzled over what she sees as just another failure by an already overloaded foster care system which doesn’t seem capable enough when dealing with so many needy youngsters throughout Texas but nevertheless allows some of them into the care of such people like Martins who have no experience whatsoever in raising children not to mention those coming from broken homes among other challenges facing them this being one amongst many she comes across daily as part her job. However, given the chance, they do everything possible for them which includes adopting more kids since it is what they believe biblically mandated to do so.
Her most at risk kids will be Terri who is a traumatized teenager pretending to be a cat when she first reaches their place and other siblings from different families too numerous recall right now because there are so many but all need love equally thus making everyone wonder how could anyone think of treating any human being like an animal even if only momentarily while still trying figure out own identity without parents around? The movie tries balancing between funny moments brought about by these weird behaviors exhibited sometimes especially during initial stages when joining new household after having lived through various placements within system before finding oneself here with Martins as permanent family members alongside moments filled sadness over what must have been going wrong some point thus leading such behavior change. Or else we will just go back to the drawing board again!
The remainder of the city is motivated to foster after the Martins’ story, 77 children show up, dropped off with Possum Trot citizens. “Story of Hope,” then, falls into a somewhat predictable family drama narrative as they grapple with the joys and pitfalls of this selfless act. It’s easy to say yes It feels good, it’s Christian. The Black church community circles around each other, they’ll help out. But bills and tensions pile up. And Donna (Weigel), in particular, can’t deal with the many traumas and triggers of so many kids brought under her roof.
It certainly helps that Weigel directs these proceedings po-faced earnestly syrupy music plays over wide-eyed performances dripping with conviction. This is a movie about God moving through people; it believes in the power of the church (especially the tight-knit rhythms of the Black southern church) to inspire selflessness. But those rhythms themselves are hardly surprising, and two hours struggle against turning an event-free story into something interesting. Don’t get me wrong: It’s admirable for such an agenda based picture to show adoption’s dark side the broken hearts, impossible cases, strained wallets. But when you cycle through arcs of trials and victories until you hit a contrived climax surrounding Terri’s mental breakdown and subsequent (baptismal) redemption, your narrative has gone soft on us. As if this story weren’t simple enough already, Donna’s voice narrates the thing to an irritating degree like Weigel didn’t trust his intimate camerawork or surprisingly deft cast.
“Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot” isn’t right wing propaganda like “Sound of Freedom”, at its best it’s just a heartwarming message movie about charity and community, one of those few Christian-geared pictures that remembers there are teachings about love thy neighbor that don’t involve repeating Fox News talking points.
Just as in “Freedom,” “Possum Trot” ends not just with heartwarming cuts to the real figures and the bright futures they’ve secured through faith and community, but also with a minutes long call to action to support the film. The real W.C. and Donna read off a teleprompter while a QR code pops on-screen, asking viewers to “Pay It Forward” and donate tickets for others to see for free. It’s a novel gambit, one that rocketed “Freedom” to box-office success and gave Angel Studios a model for its cinematic offerings, I’m not quite sure how I feel about its model of astroturfing its way to profitability, but if it has to happen, I’d much rather it happen to a movie like this.
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