Inspired by an incredibly true story,Ordinary Angelswas released on February 23,2024. The uplifting biographical drama stars two-time Oscar-winner Hilary Swank as Sharon Stevens, a troubled hairdresser in Kentucky who leads a gallant effort to save a little girl’s life during a severe snowstorm. Apart from finding personal redemption, Stevens forms a tender bond with the girl’s widowed father, giving both characters the strength to persevere.
Ordinary Angelsis directed by John Gunn, a filmmaker known for such previous faith-based films asMercy Streets, The Case for ChristandDo You Believe?Gunn has also directed two secular movies, includingMy Date with DrewandThe Week,leaving fans to wonder ifOrdinary Angelsis a religious movie or simply an autobiographical tale stranger than fiction. For those interested in spending time withOrdinary Angels, here is everything to know about the story’s religious aspects.
Ordinary Angels
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What Is Ordinary Angels About?
Ordinary Angelsis amovie that tells the inspiring true storyof Sharon Stevens, a wayward yet good-hearted hairdresser who became an unlikely hero in Louisville, Kentucky in 1994. While hungover following one of her alcoholic benders, Sharon reads an article in the local newspaper and learns about Michelle Schmitt (Emily Mitchell). Michelle is a five-year-old girl who lives with her widowed father and blue-collar roofer, Ed (Alan Ritchson), and desperately needs a liver transplant.
While grappling with her alcoholism, Sharon introduces herself to Ed and Michelle and begins to organize their finances to deal with the family’s mounting debt without telling them. Ed is unsure of Michelle’s motives at first, but over time, the two begin working together to ensure Michelle receives a liver transplant before it’s too late. Worsening matters, a massive snowstorm inundates Louisville from the North American cold wave, preventing Sharon and Ed from transporting Michelle to the hospital. As Michelle’s condition becomes more critical, Sharon rushes to find a solution in the nick of time.
How Accurate Is Ordinary Angels?
AlthoughOrdinary Angelsis based on a true story, using Sharon Stevens’s book of the same name as a source, some liberties have been taken for dramatic purposes, and some facts have been omitted from the story altogether. For example,the real Sharon Stevens did not have a drinking problem. The character’s struggles with alcoholism were fabricated to bolster Sharon’s redemptive arc. When the movie begins, Sharon is depicted as a hard-partying boozer with no sense of direction. She spends her time in barrooms buying rounds for everyone, doing several shots, and waking up with severe hangovers.
Once she makes it her mission to lift the Schmitt family out of debt and find a donor for Michelle, Sharon starts to sober up and attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. The more clear-minded Sharon becomes, the more hope the Schmitt family has to rise from the dire emotional and financial situation.
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The movie concludes with an inspiring rally by the community to deliver Michelle to the hospital in time, persevering through a dangerous snowstorm in a sequence that feels too contrived to be believed. However, the most realistic aspect of the movie involves the snowstorm and the heroic efforts made by the community to save Michelle Schmitt’s life.
However, the movie also leaves out the fact thatMichelle’s older sister Ashley (played by Skywalker Hughes inOrdinary Angels) suffered the same genetic liver problem and had a successful liver transplant a few years before Michelle.Perhaps most glaring, the real Michelle Schmitt passed away from an aneurysm at age 30 in 2021, just asOrdinary Angelswas entering production. Although it’s easy to see why Gunn would omit this fact in such an otherwise uplifting and feel-good movie, Michelle Schmitt’s story ended more tragically than viewers may realize.
Is Ordinary Angels a Religious Movie?
Given John Gunn’s track record of makingtraumatic religious-themed movies,Ordinary Angelsis surprisingly subtle in its pious messaging.Although the movie is faith-based in spirit, it is not a preachy religious movie seeking to proselytize or convert anybody who doesn’t harbor Biblical beliefs.Ed Schmitt may be a god-fearing man who attends church with his family, but there are only a few passing scenes that take place in a house of worship or deal directly with religion in the movie.
Instead, as the title suggests,Ordinary Angelsis about flawed human beings heroically sacrificing for the greater good of others. The story is about profound empathy and the rousing call for action to save a child’s life when all hope appears lost, falling somewhere between Gunn’s extremely religious and completely secular movies.
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Apart from a few glancing church scenes filled with religious iconography and focusing on a character named Pastor Dave Stone (Drew Powell), a crucial moment in the movie comes when Ed’s religious mother Barbara (Nancy Travis) encourages him to remain positive during a terrifyingly uncertain time. When all hope appears to be lost, Barbara states “Son, don’t lose your faith over this,” which gives him the strength to carry on.
While this hardly constitutesOrdinary Angelsas a religiousor non-religious movieper se, faith plays a pivotal part in the lives of the Schmitt family throughout the story. Sharon may not be as religious as the Schmitt family, but her charitable act of empathy and kindness allows her to find spiritual redemption by the time the story concludes. Regardless of how pious viewers are or aren’t,Ordinary Angelsis bound to inspire, uplift, and move everyone to joyous tears in the end.
