No Place in This World
Director: Brad Castillo. Cast: Ashley Sperrazza, Hayley Castillo, Jackson Tessmer, Liz M. Day, Ashlyn Jade Lopez Anderson, Angela Winiewicz, Kinley Rice Shannon Scott (2017. 83 minutes)
The movie focuses on the serious problem of bullying in schools that have led to shootings and suicides. It has relevance to all societies where troubled children express their frustrations in violence against each other and against themselves.
The movie narrates the story of a pair of teen sisters, Lauren and Addie, who suffer from parental neglect following their widowed mother Julie’s second marriage. Julie and her new husband have enough to get drunk on a daily basis, while the children go hungry and badly dressed to school. Out of jealousy, the mother takes them away from their loving aunt. Lauren, the younger one, is intelligent and industrious, but is constantly harassed at home by her mother and bullied by her classmates. The regular bullies are led by Kaycie, another troubled child whose mother had abandoned the family. The bullies call Lauren “ugly” and a “loser.” They mock her whenever they get a chance. Her sister Addie takes big sacrifices to provide the little sister with just enough money from her savings to do a science project. Teachers fail to understand Lauren’s problems. A boy named Timothy makes friends with Lauren and helps her with her science project. But this incites the jealousy of the bullies further. They destroy her science project. Lauren ends her life, shocking her family, friends and the school authorities. Investigation reveals many issues behind the tragic death of Lauren. The victimser herself is a victim of emotional neglect. Dysfunctional families, parental irresponsibility, and ignorance among the young and indifference of educators are identified as the root cause of such violence. The inconsolable Addie has to undergo extreme suffering on account of the tragic loss of her sister and questions why God let this happen to her sister. However, she has a healing experience at one point during an encounter with a strange angelic old woman whom she meets in the very place where her sister died. She also has an encounter with a pastor who helps her seek solace in God’s Word. The bully girl too comes to realize the horror of her deed and seeks forgiveness.
God, Where Are You?
Director: De Miller. Cast: Wade Williams, Kibwe Dorsey, Tanya Christiansen, Tracy Goode, John Denny (2014. 97 minutes)
Professional boxer Remo (Sonny) Boone has one last fight before settling down to marriage and a happy life. But everything turns upside down when in the heat of the game he causes the death of his opponent. He is stripped of his title, boxing license and his amassed fortune. His fiancée deserts him. His house is confiscated and Boone is literally thrown on the streets with no one to turn to for help. The impoverished and desperate Boxer scrounges for food. One night he encounters a kindly black man named Malachi Carpenter. He persuades the proud boxer to join him in the little restaurant where he provides a free meal. He directs Remo to the nearby church where Pastor Gary provides him night lodgings. But he would not hear any talk of God because he believes that God had let him down. Malachi is a patient listener and makes gentle and positive suggestions to the desperate man. He gives Remo a book titled “Gratitude Renewed,” asking him to read it and note down things that Remo feels grateful for every day. Remo is introduced to Bobby, an ex footballer who was incapacitated in a ghastly road accident that left him blind, but remains cheerful and grateful. Bobby is now a recognized music composer. Remo is once given a lift by Cindy Grey, a cheerful woman whose story is similar. These encounters gradually make Remo come to the realization that God has not abandoned him. Malachi gives him an object lesson when Remo is served uncooked breakfast, which upsets him. When Remo points out that the food is not done yet, Malachi tells him that God’s plan for him is also like this. God is not yet done with him. He introduces Remo to a Spanish lady who insists that he visit her family. It is the family of Conchola whom Remo had killed in the ring. During the visit, Sofia, the dead man’s wife, and their son tell the visitor how they have already forgiven him and that Conchola’s death was God’s plan for the good of the family. Remo soon takes over as trainer in the new gymnasium which was Conchola’s dream and he finds a new life.
Prof Gigy Joseph
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