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Somewhere in Georgia, USA: Rather unexpectedly, lawyer Angie (Kristen Renton) inherits the mansion of an old lady (Sandra Ellis Lafferty) she has helped taking care of, and exploring the house finds a diary that might tell the story of the ancestors of her colleague Andrew (Maurice Johnson) she has only recently found herself forced to share an office with.

The diary, dating back to the 1800s, before the Civil War, tells the story of slave Ophelia (Jamie Butler), who has become best friends with her mistress Emmaline (KareLynn E. Newberry), who's not a slave holder by nature, she's just been married off into this culture, and is almost as oppressed by her husband Jackson (William Mark McCullough) as his slaves are. So when Ophelia gets pregnant, Emmaline, knowing her husband will probably kill the offspring, lets him impregnate her, just to force him to use Ophelia as wet nurse. That plan works out, but Jackson never forgives Emmaline for giving birth to a daughter rather than a son. And when the son she bears him eventually shows signs he might not be his but one of his slave's, he has his brutal foreman David (Bill Oberst jr) kill him on the spot.

Ophelia's son Isaiah (Marquies Wilson) and Emmaline's daughter Annabeth (Ashley Robillard) grow up as best friends, as if the then ubiquitous racial divide didn't exist, and thus it's only natural that they got intimate with a certain age, and eventually Annabeth gets pregnant, and Emmaline does the best to hide her away from her husband - but to no avail, he stumbles in at childbirth - and tragedy ensues ...

Now back in the heare and now, Andrew has saved Angie's life at one occasion, but what really draws the two towards each other is the story the diary chronicles, so much so that they start to do some (actual) digging together to fill in the blanks ...

Now I will say that much, have some tissues ready for this one, as it's a bit of a tearjerker - not totally throughout, but there are spots you get through better with shedding a tear. That's not to say this is just some sappy feelgood story that tries to solve everything regarding racism with a bit of romance. Quite the contrary, the film's at time quite hard-hitting and cruel, and doesn't show over-simplified solutions to complex problems, but it's nuanced in its storytelling, and its two narrative levels give it some extra depth, while the script still puts story over message. And add to that a rather strong cast, and you've got yourself a pretty good film, really.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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