Pastor Mia (Shenella Malkia) has had a good run of late, after her father's death, she, a former cop, has managed to keep hit sommunity alive, her parish loves her for her pragmatism, she has a smart and loving son, Lenny (Criston Andell), and she has only recently found a man she could love after Lenny's father has broken her heart many moons ago, lawyer Ralph (Jerry Hyppolite). And then she learns the owners of the neighbouring shopping plaza, brothers Manon (Geoff Burt, Frank Cichoki), want to get rid of her church in their neighbourhood as it "disturbs their business". But how can a church disturb anyone's business? Well, you see, Pastor Mia's community is predominantly African American, just like herself, and the Manons, their forfathers being founding fathers of the community, come from old money - slave money -, and racism has run in the family for generations. So they try to get Mia out of the neighbourhood, by generous offers as well as legal threats, but Pastor Mia just won't budge and has the right answer to everything. So as the last resort, the Manon brothers burn the church down - with Mia's mother (Vera Moore) trapped inside. And with both her ruchch and mother gun, something snaps in Pastor Mia and she remembers her police training, grabs a gun and ...

Now I'm not really into faith-based movies as I feel myself being just way too pragmatic to believe into the power of prayer of whatever - but I see when a film has its heart in the right place, and this one definitely does when making a strong stance against racism and "old money". And a strong cast and subtle directorial effort sure drive this point home withot relying on sledgehammer methods, making this one a quite engaginc and first of all very worthwhile watch.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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