Breakthrough (2019 film)

Breakthrough
File:Breakthrough film poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Roxann Dawson
Screenplay by	Grant Nieporte
Produced by	DeVon Franklin
Starring	Chrissy Metz Josh Lucas Topher Grace Mike Colter Marcel Ruiz Sam Trammel Dennis Haysbert
Cinematography	Zoran Popovic
Edited by	Maysie Hoy
Music by	Marcelo Zarvos
Distributed by	20th Century Fox (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
Release date	April 17, 2019 (2019-04-17)
Running time	116 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$14 million
Box office	$26.3 million

Breakthrough is a 2019 American Christian drama film directed by Roxann Dawson, produced by Unanimous Media for 20th Century Fox and released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is written by Grant Nieporte, based on the Christian book The Impossible, an account of true events written by Joyce Smith with Ginger Kolbaba. The film stars Chrissy Metz, Josh Lucas, Topher Grace, Mike Colter, Marcel Ruiz, Sam Trammel, and Dennis Haysbert with a cameo by contemporary Christian artist Phil Wickham. Basketball player Stephen Curry is executive producer.

The film tells the story of a St. Louis teenager who slipped through an icy lake in January 2015 and was underwater for 15 minutes before resuscitative efforts were started. Although being rescued, he is in a coma, and his family must rely on their faith to get through the ordeal.

Breakthrough premiered in St. Louis on March 20, 2019, and was released in the United States on April 17, 2019. It was the first film from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, following Disney's acquisition of the company. The film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances and inspirational messages, but called the plot predictable.

Plot

John Smith (Ruiz) is a 14-year-old Guatemalan boy raised in Lake St. Louis, Missouri by his adoptive parents, Brian (Lucas) and Joyce (Metz) Smith. Though they are openly loving and supportive towards him, John struggles with feelings of abandonment from his birth parents as he goes through puberty and self-discovery, and starts rebelling against his parents and teachers.

One day John and his class are given an assignment, where they're to give an oral presentation about their family background. On the day he's called to recite, John admits he didn't do the assignment because he didn't have time. Word of this gets back to his basketball coach, who had promised him a starting position on the team. He warns John that if he gets a failing grade, that he will be benched. John later returns and gives a half-hearted presentation, saying that everyone pretty much already knows he's adopted and doesn't know much about his true background.

Not long after this, John and his two friends Josh and Reiger (the latter goes by his last name because his first name is also Josh), head onto an iced-over lake near their neighborhood. A nearby resident tells them to get off the ice because it's not safe, but they refuse. The resident leaves to call the police and a short time later, all three fall through a weak spot on the ice. Rescue teams soon arrive and the two Joshes manage to swim to the surface and are rescued. Two first responders get into the hole to try and find John. As they're about to give up, one of the rescuers, Tommy Shine (Colter), hears a voice telling him to go back. Thinking it's his chief, he tries again, and manages to lift John to the surface.

With no pulse or breath, John is taken to the local hospital, where a team of medical professionals work frantically to save his life. After John still fails to register a pulse, the attendant physician, Dr. Sutterer, gives Joyce a chance to say goodbye. A weeping Joyce enters the trauma room and cradles her son in her arms. After a moment, a faint pulse begins to register. With renewed hope, Dr. Sutterer recommends transferring John to another hospital better equipped to save his life, citing Dr. Garrett (Haysbert) as an expert in cases like John's.

After John is transferred and put in a medically-induced coma, Garrett warns Joyce and Brian that he has little hope for John's recovery, citing that if John were to pull through, he would most likely be in a persistent vegetative state for the rest of his life.

Throughout all this is a subplot involving Joyce and Jason Noble, the new liberal pastor at the family's church, with whom Joyce frequently clashes. Joyce slowly warms to Noble after he shows up at the hospital upon learning of John's accident. Like Joyce, he regards John's progress as divine intervention.

Later, John shows some signs of consciousness, as his ability to hear Joyce and Pastor Jason, responding with squeezes to the hand, and a tear trickling from his eye as a crowd gathers outside his hospital window to sing and pray for his recovery.

Joyce turns John's possible recovery into an obsession, constantly harassing the health care professionals into making John their only priority, alienating those around her, including her own husband. During a heated moment, Joyce tells Brian that if it wasn't for her, John would be dead, completely forgetting her Christianity which had long been the foundation of her character. After a brief and hurtful rebuttal, Brian storms off.

Coming to the realization that she cannot control John's outcome, Joyce retreats to the roof of the hospital to pray, asking God for forgiveness and submitting to His will. As she concludes her prayer, it begins to snow, which she believes is an answer. She and Brian meet again with Garrett, who tells them that the drugs they have been administering to John during his medical induced coma are becoming toxic to his system and may be doing more harm than good. Joyce, who had previously been adamant about saving John's life at all costs, suggests stopping treatment and bringing him out of the coma, stating that she's ready for whatever fate brings. Garrett agrees.

Garrett administers the drug to bring John from the coma. His body begins to convulse and he slowly begins to regain consciousness, where he re-lives the accident where he fell into the water. He hears his mother's voice and opens his eyes, with full cognitive ability. A few days later, he is discharged from the hospital and returns to school.

However, John's return, while welcomed by many, is met with some resentment by others, who question why John was spared while their own loved ones had died. This weighs heavy on John's mind and he returns to the lake in search of a possible answer. He sees Tommy Shine sitting on a bench looking out over the lake and thanks him for saving his life. Tommy counters by admitting that he did not believe in God until after a series of protracted events since John's accident and that all Tommy did was pull him from the water.

John reconciles his survival with a renewed sense of purpose in his life and rebuilds his relationships with those he had been alienating earlier. The movie ends with an epilogue that John is pursuing a career in ministry after graduation from high school.

Cast

• Chrissy Metz as Joyce Smith, a highly religious woman, Brian's wife and John's adoptive mother.
• Josh Lucas as Brian Smith, Joyce's husband and John's adoptive father.
• Marcel Ruiz as John Smith, Joyce and Brian's Guatemalan 14-year-old adoptive son who makes a miraculous recovery.
• Topher Grace as Pastor Jason Noble, the local pastor who tries to connect with the youth.
• Mike Colter as Tommy Shine, a first responder who had a moment with God to save John.
• Sam Trammell as Dr. Kent Sutterer
• Dennis Haysbert as Dr. Garrett
• Maddy Martin as Abby Sutterer, Dr. Sutterer's daughter and John's love interest.
• Isaac Kragten as Josh, one of John's friends.
• Nikolas Dukic as Reiger, one of John's friends.
• Travis Bryant as Jonah, one of John’s friends.
• Taylor Mosby as Chayla, one of John's friends.
• Ali Skovby as Emma, one of John's friends.
• Chuck Shamata as Fire Chief
• Nancy Sorel as Mrs. Abbott, the Family History teacher at the Christian middle school John and his friends attend.
• Lisa Durupt as Paula Noble, Pastor Jason's wife and mother of his son and daughter.
• Rebecca Staab as Cindy Reiger

Production

Producer DeVon Franklin helped the Smith family find a literary agent and then develop the book in a film after it was published. The movie was shot in Manitoba from March to May 2018. Locations for the 31-day shoot included Winnipeg, Selkirk, and Portage la Prairie.

Marketing

An official trailer for the film was released on December 5, 2018 and received more than 30 million views within two days, becoming the most-viewed trailer for a religious film within that timespan.

Metz performed "I'll Stand With You" from the film's soundtrack at the 54th Academy of Country Music Awards alongside Carrie Underwood, Lauren Alaina, Maddie & Tae and Mickey Guyton.

Release

Breakthrough was released in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and co-distributed by 20th Century Fox on April 17, 2019.

Reception

Box office

As of April 25, 2019, Breakthrough has grossed $19.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $6.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $26.3 million.

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Penguins, and was projected to gross $13–17 million from 2,300 theaters in its five-day opening weekend. The film made $1.9 million on its first day and $1.5 million on its second. It went on to debut to $11.3 million (a five-day total of $14.6 million), finishing third behind The Curse of La Llorona and Shazam!.

Critical response

According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 65% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 52 reviews, with an average rating of 5.69/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Like its lead character, Breakthrough is fiercely focused on faith — but its less subtle elements are balanced by strong performances and an uplifting story." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars and a "definite recommend" of 69%.

See also

• Miracles from Heaven (film)
• Heaven is for Real (film)

External links

• Official website
• Breakthrough at IMDb