In one of the most surprising films of the year comes a true story of three families, all unbelievably connected by horrific events dating back as far as the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.
Through amazing cinematography and skillful storytelling, “Beautifully Broken” chronicles the chance meetings of three husbands and fathers—two African and one American—each struggling to keep their families intact.
Successful music video director Eric Welch spearheads this remarkable faith-based journey, meticulously walking the audience through the vicious civil war in Rwanda and the refugee camps that follow. From there an African coffee exporter and his family, along with a Hutu farmer separated from his wife and young daughter, are all just trying to survive the killing fields and streets.
“Beautifully Broken” begins with an adrenaline rush of fear from violence and ends on the powerful note of new beginnings and friendships. Throughout the film, faith and forgiveness guides and gives each family strength, while reconciliation and redemption heal their relationships.
The movie’s greatest feat is the patience afforded to explain all three families’ specific struggles, and yet tie them all together by the time the credits roll. Most challenging and shocking of all is how an affluent Nashville family comes to know the two African families, all different backgrounds and circumstances but all sharing in similar needs.
A heartfelt trip for each character to find answers and closure, the church plays a vital and significant supporting role in “Beautifully Broken,” but never to the point of preaching. Rather, religion is celebrated individually by the cast and facilitates how coping, and healing endures.
A terrifying and uncertain start nicely develops into the thought-provoking real-life testament to God and how small of a world we live in. Picturesque filmmaking captures the beauty within three strong families and a surreal African nation completely turned upside down by evil militia guns and machetes.
Released in only 651 theaters nationwide (so far) but ranked No. 19 overall in box office tallies last weekend, this is a film worth finding in your local area.
Patrick King is a resident of Tucson and writer for the Reel Brief movie blog at reelbrief.com. Email him at reelbriefmoviereviews@mail.com.
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