Breakthrough is based on the inspirational true story of one mother’s unfaltering love in the face of impossible odds. When Joyce Smith’s adopted son John falls through an icy Missouri lake, all hope seems lost. But as John lies lifeless, Joyce refuses to give up. Her steadfast belief inspires those around her to continue to pray for John’s recovery, even in the face of every case history and scientific prediction.
Here's your disclaimer; I am not a religious man. However, New Zealand is a largely secular country and I noted the film, despite just being released, only had one screening a day at 10am. I haven't seen a film that had such a bold religious message in its trailer in many years, so I was curious to see whether its limited release was due to its religious nature or its quality. You can tell from the trailer that this film is going to focus on religious faith. How strongly is this going to be? Well in the opening scene we get a morning routine to the soundtrack of Bruno Mars Uptown Funk, with the lyrics "hot damn" noticeably missing. So the film wishes to include popular music with strict censoring. Take from that what you will.
The story is adapted from a novel, which in turn was based on a true story. Breakthrough also has a few heavy hitters on the cast list, from Mike Colter (Marvel's Luke Cage) to Dennis Haybert (24), Chrissy Metz (This Is Us), and Topher Grace (That 70's Show).
The story of Breakthrough is quite cut and dry. You know exactly what is going to happen by the end of the film, so the film has to work that much harder to keep you engaged with the film. One of the aspects that it does really well is showing the different levels of faith that a person can have, and even going as far as to show conflicts between modern and traditional ways that church pastors may choose to perform their sermon. In this way, the film isn't so black and white.
As you would expect from such a traumatic event, there is a lot of tension between the different players in the film, and a lot of conflict as to the decisions that need to be made. This isn't the perfect lovey-dovey family; they have skeletons in their closet, they don't always see eye-to-eye, and the toll that this event takes nearly tears them apart. There are so many tears being shed by so many people that it's incredibly hard not to feel anything. It definitely tugs at the heartstrings and catches your breath every once in a while. At the same time though, you know it has been shot in this way to be emotionally manipulative. It times events to try to show a clear correlation when in real life it may not have been quite so dramatic.
On the surface level, it looks like they have done their research and tried to cover the medical side of things as accurately as possible, but at the same time, it feels incredibly unlikely to have happened how it is portrayed. This feeling is bolstered by small details that show a lack of attention to details, one of which being how CPR is being shown onscreen. While it has no effect on the plot, The CPR technique shown is incorrect and incredibly irresponsible to include. If someone were to attempt CPR with bent arms, it would be ineffective and could lead to someone dying. I'm sorry but if you can't get that right, I question every scene and piece of dialogue that happens in the hospital. Don't even get me started on the syringes.
The film also carries on after the conclusion of the main story arc so that it can add a few more "faith" moments for its supporting cast, which also felt unnecessary, and like director Roxann Dawson didn't know how to end the film. In general, however, the main cast were well done. Chrissy Metz and Josh Lucas had some good character development arcs, and it created a great emotional hook.
This is by no means a brilliant film, but despite the strong religious overtones and the obvious conclusion to the story, there was enough tension and conflict to make Breakthrough emotionally investing, and dramatic enough to build up to a payoff at the end. A heartwarming story that showcases a loyal mother's belief in her son.
Breakthrough will appeal to those that already believe, but is still a little too hamfisted to appeal to the more secular population.
Breakthrough will appeal to those that already believe, but is still a little too hamfisted to appeal to the more secular population.