Gimme Shelter ~ An Informative and Inspiring Film
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Often times, a trip to the movie theater has the person looking for an escape from the everyday as the film makers provide mindless entertainment. While I can easily fall into that category, there are times when I seek out a film which may entertain to some degree but also moves into the realm of education or provoking deep thoughts. Gimme Shelter, which opened in theaters yesterday, falls into that second category. I am so glad I had the opportunity to watch an advance screening of the film so I could share here on Day by Day in Our World.
About Gimme Shelter
A pregnant teenager flees life with her drug-addicted mother and ends up living on the street before being welcomed into her first real home in Gimme Shelter, an extraordinary tale of survival and redemption inspired by actual events. For 16-year-old Agnes “Apple” Bailey (Vanessa Hudgens), life has been a constant struggle to overcome the harsh reality of a subsistence existence with her abusive mother, June (Rosario Dawson), and June’s string of lowlife boyfriends. When she finds herself pregnant and alone, Apple temporarily takes shelter with her biological father, Tom (Brendan Fraser), a wealthy Wall Streeter living in a New Jersey mansion with his wife Joanna (Stephanie Szostak) and two young children. But Apple’s inability to adjust to her new circumstances, and her refusal to terminate her pregnancy, soon force her back onto the streets.
Desperate to find a haven for herself and her unborn child, Apple reluctantly agrees to move into a suburban shelter that houses other pregnant teens. Emotionally scarred and unable to trust those who want to help her, it seems unlikely that Apple will be able to adapt to the shelter’s strict rules and high expectations. With her safety and that of her unborn child at risk, Apple must find a way to break the shackles of her unhappy past and embrace the future with clarity, maturity and hope.
My Thoughts on Gimme Shelter
I’ll start off by saying that this film truly is for teens and adults. While most of the scenes are not intense, there are a few times in the film where situations arise that a parent just might not be ready to explain to a younger child. I had a friend ask if we should have this be a film selection for our youth group and I told her I’d watch it with the high school students and maybe the middle schoolers if the parents gave consent ahead of time.
While this film was not a source of mindless entertainment, I did enjoy the process of watching. The actors were mostly convincing in their portrayals as you felt empathy for Apple and contempt for her messed up parents. You could see the transformation from someone who is barely surviving to someone who is thriving as well. I love James Earl Jones and enjoyed seeing him portray a Catholic priest in the film. His role was minor, but serves as the bridge for Apple to go from lost and alone to loved and supported.
The underlying message of all life being precious and possessing value is one that resonated well with me. Apple doesn’t want to abort the child growing in her womb, even though she could have then lived ‘in luxury’ at her biological father’s home. The other message of the film is one of hope as Apple walks through fire to keep her child and comes out the other end with friends who become her family.I loved the fictional look inside of Several Sources Shelters, although they only provide a mere glimpse into the work being done and ways that the young girls are assisted. Inclusion of several girls who have been at the shelters in the movie lent more authenticity to the film.
My older boys peeked in at times as I was streaming the advance screening. As individuals who love action and adventure, this film was outside their comfort zone. They missed the one scene in a church narthex where Apple’s mom verbally and physically assaults here. (That scene was most likely the most intense of all the scenes.)
As someone who is pro-life, I truly hope this film will also inspire film goers to help support charities such as this so that others might have hope in their life. One fundraiser our local Knights of Columbus supported this year is the purchase of ultrasound equipment to have at two different clinics here in Alaska so that mothers can see that the child they are carrying IS a person and not just a clump of cells. Like Apple’s character in the film, it is hard to deny that fact when you’ve heard a heart beat and seen the child moving in your womb.
Check out the Trailer for Gimme Shelter
Curious about the film? Watch this trailer and see if it is something that peeks your interest.
Do you enjoy watching films that cause you to think or edify you on a particular topic?
What’s the last movie you saw AT the movie theater?
This film deals with a very real issue, with more and more teens coming from unhealthy and/or broken homes, either kicked out or on the streets to escape the situation.
Sounds like a very interesting movie.
This is the one movie, when I saw the previews, that I texted my husband that I wanted to see.
What a great review, Laura. I want to see this movie. Thank you so much for introducing it to me.
We just watched an inside look at Gimme Shelter the other day and it looks really intense! I can’t watch movies that like, it’s so sad!
this sounds like a really heavy movie although i’d love to watch it. NOT with the kids tho!! mine are still little
This sounds so heavy. The last film we saw was Lone Survivor. It was intense and had me an emotional wreck. I do like to watch films like that, however, I am much happier watching a lighthearted comedy.
This movie sounds really good. I think it would be an emotional roller coaster
We saw The Nut Job last weekend. That was the last one we saw. We see a lot at the theater but also watch quite a bit at home. I love movies! Ones that make me think… I have to be in a mood for. As an example, there was a recent movie about kids being kidnapped. I refused to see it for fear it would cause nightmares for me (thinking of my own kids.) Gimme Shelter sounds like it would be pretty interesting!