source: Why We Breathe

I completely enjoyed this movie. Contrary to what I seen in a different review, I am not in any way affiliated with the makings of this movie. There were a few things I would have liked to see with it or added in but I wasn't the writer and still enjoyed it. If I were to make a constructive criticism it would definitely be the ending. Did she make it in music or settle for small town life? Did she end up with good guy? Did she finally surrender herself to the love of Christ? This was, in my opinion a great start to a mini series and it was definitely left open enough to add a tremendous amount of content but it was still good.

My husband and I really enjoyed this movie. Wonderful family show. Would highly recommend to anyone wanting a wholesome show.

Great family friendly movie for the whole family to watch I loved it. It shows of abuse rate courage to get out and the courage and strength to survive :)

This was so great!. Beautifully made with great acting. The ending leaves you wanting a bit, but the store itself is amazing. Take the time to watch this film, it is definitely worth the watch.

Sat down and watched this movie with my wife and one of my daughters, and we really enjoyed it! One of the main things I took out of it (with no spoilers) is that we can get too busy and get very overwhelmed with our lives circumstances that we can fail to recognize the dreams and talents of our own children. We need to slow down realize the true reason "why we breathe" and find the purpose on why God has us here. This movie does an excellent job on showing these aspects that we all need to apply to our own lives. This message might be subtle to most viewers, but this is something that stood out to me having young children that I'm raising and being a filmmaker myself. I'm looking forward to watching future projects from Erik Parks. This is just the beginning of what he is capable of creating!

The cast in this film was on their A game. The writing was also very fresh. A lot of movies like this can feel formulaic but this one did a good job of keeping you guessing a little bit. Great family film!

IN A NUTSHELL: Charity Spencer, the producer of the movie, kindly sent me a press screener so I could review this movie for you! The movie came out a while ago, but I finally had time to watch it and I always want to support new filmmakers and actors. The movie is about a young woman and her daughter who relocate from the big city to small-town Nolensville, TN to escape a violent past that will eventually catch up with them. The movie was written and directed by D. Erik Parks. THINGS I LIKED: The cast includes all new faces for me. When I first saw Carrie (played by the lovely Alexandra Sedlak) working at the diner at the opening of the movie, I thought she was a teenager. She looked way too young to be a mother of a 10-year old daughter, so I thought she might have been miscast. As I thought about it, it supported the idea that she had made mistakes as a young woman. Alexandra did a very nice job as the protagonist. It's always refreshing to see a clean, family-friendly film that inspires and grabs your heart. The characters seemed pretty realistic, filled with real-life problems. The plot seemed pretty believable. I really liked how Uncle Joe (played beautifully by Donnie Clark) described the title of the movie. He explained that we each need to figure out the purpose of why we're here, why we breathe in order to find meaning in our everyday lives. Why do YOU breathe? Comment down below! While it IS a "Christian" film, it doesn't bang you over the head with preaching like some of those do. The director intentionally tried to create a "crossover" film that would speak to everyone. Spencer describes the movie as "subtly religious" while Parks calls it an actual ministry that attempts to bring comfort and inspiration. The movie was filmed in Nolensville, which is an actual town in Tennessee that the director fell in love with. Some of the locals got to perform as Extras in the movie. I always love that when directors reach out to the community like that. THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: There are some forced acting moments that pulled me away from the moment. The plot moves very slowly. A lot of Christian movies like this are super sad throughout the entire film. There needed to be more happy moments to balance out the sad ones. There were a few attempts at cheerful montages, but overall, it was just sad. The budget was probably pretty low for this film, so the production quality suffers a little bit because of that. For example, there are some editing issues and shaky-cam moments. Act III feels a bit rushed with a predictable ending and cliched writing. It's realistic to include close-minded Christians in the story, but it sure made me cringe to see. Christians who behave badly like that absolutely do not understand the gospel of Jesus Christ! TIPS FOR PARENTS: Alcohol An unmarried couple lives together Domestic abuse THEMES: Single mothers Abusive relationships Parenting and family responsibilities PTSD Overcoming past mistakes Starting over Judgmental Christians Accepting help from others Community support Hope Believing in your dreams You can see my full review on my Movie Review Mom YouTube channel.

The acting was ok. Story was slow. Might have earned an average rating but the technical flaws stand out. Lighting / grading looks like it was done by 5 different people. At one point the white balance was way off. Shots in the same scene seamed like they weren't even Color matched. Really basic stuff that should not be in a feature film. I think the editor can take some of the blame as some issues can easily be fixed in post. For example, dialog from another take didn't match the mouth movement of the actor talking. This could have been fixed by simply cropping in tighter. Audio had issues with noise floor or room noise cutting out between angles in dialog. Again basic stuff recording room tone or manufacturing background sound. Overall it is slow but watchable. Above average for general Christian movies these days.

Movie seemed very incomplete and it was boring with very flat acting. The story line had potential but didn't come through. Completely wasted my time watching this.