Need new movie recommendations? We’ve got you covered.
By Brittany Smith
Have you run out shows to watch during quarantine? Luckily, streaming services are adding new content daily. And with it a host of pro-life films that are not only beautifully done, but showcase the value of life on the big screen.
Save the Storks presents our top five pro-life themed films to watch while you’re stuck at home. These films provide a nuanced look at life issues and give an honest assessment of the pain, heartbreak, and unexpected joy this complicated issue can bring.
Wonder
If you have a choice to be right or kind, be kind.
Wonder is a family drama based on the young adult novel by R.J. Palacio. Its protagonist is a boy named Auggie Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) who was born with a genetic facial abnormality. He has undergone multiple surgeries and medical treatment since he was born, and because of that has been homeschooled up until now. His parents decide to enroll him in middle school where he’ll have to learn to navigate the outside world and socialize with other kids his own age. He encounters cruel bullies along the way to meeting new friends who learn to see Auggie for who he really is inside. His unique perspective on the world helps show others the importance of being differently-abled.
Stream it on Amazon Prime and Hulu.
Crescendo
Can you imagine doing something that changes the world?
This short film is in German with English subtitles. Set in the 18th century, it tells the story of a woman who finds herself pregnant from her abusive, alcoholic husband who also happens to be having an affair with a younger woman. Throughout the film, she contemplates an abortion until a shocking revelation changes everything.
Crescendo won 15 international film festival awards and took home Best Short Film at the 2012 Hollywood Film Festival. Pattie Mallette, mother of pop-star Justin Bieber, is the executive producer of the film.
“Crescendo is a celebration of the strength, beauty, fortitude and dignity of women,” Mallette said.
Available for free on YouTube.
Children of Men*
As the sound of the playgrounds faded, the despair set in. Very odd, what happens in a world without children’s voices.
Set in 2027, this film by Alfonso Cuarón depicts a violent dystopian future where women have inexplicably stopped having children.
The main character Theo (Clive Owen) is reluctantly drawn into helping an underground opposition group who asks him to help transport a woman named Kee out of London. Turns out Kee is pregnant and has become incredibly important to the survival of humankind.
Stream on Amazon Prime.
*Not a family-friendly film. Rated R for intense violence.
Instant Family
Things that matter are hard.
A much lighter film, Instant Family focuses on the trials and triumphs of foster care and adoption. A middle-aged couple, played by Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne, decide to dive into foster care. Through the process, they meet three siblings whose mother’s substance abuse issues put them in the system in the first place. Things get tricky when the siblings move in giving the couple a crash course in parenthood. It is an honest look into the real-life struggles of the foster care and adoption process, two institutions integral to the pro-life movement.
Stream on Amazon Prime and Google Play.
Unplanned
What she saw changed everything.
Unplanned is based on the memoir of Abby Johnson — a former Planned Parenthood director turned pro-lifer. The film portrays Johnson, played by Ashley Bratcher, as she is recruited to volunteer at a Texas Planned Parenthood clinic to escort potential patients into the building to avoid protestors. Throughout the movie, she rises in the ranks of Planned Parenthood eventually becoming a clinic director. That is, until she witnesses a surgical abortion that changes everything for her.
Watch on Amazon Prime.
Want even more pro-life films? Check out this list from Crosswalk.com.
