Film Review: ‘Moonrise’

Written by: Kelly Meade (02/04/23)

Grief affects everyone in different ways. Some fight to hold on to every remnant of their lost loved one, others process by continuing to live life and maintain as much normalcy as possible. Others become consumed by the pain, especially if they blame themselves for that loss.

Moonrise follows the story of Will Brown and his family as they navigate through the unexpected death of his wife, Claire, in a tragic accident. A successful country singer, Will stepped away from the spotlight after losing Claire and retreated to the solitude of his Texas ranch with his three young children, ranch hand Eric and Eric’s wife Sophie.

Will’s 14 year old daughter Ellie is determined to ride her mother’s horse, though her dad and others are against it as the horse can be unpredictable. When horse trainer Sam Lin shows up at the ranch, she and everyone else is surprised to learn that Ellie is the one who made the arrangements without telling her family.

As Sam & Ellie work together to train the horse, the experience and lessons learned go much deeper for everyone as a path to healing begins.

At the film’s penultimate scene, Will hits his lowest moment, but with the help of Ellie, it’s also the defining moment that changes everything as it opens Will’s heart to forgiveness and surrendering to God all of the anger, grief and bitterness he’d been carrying for so long.

Moonrise is a heartfelt and beautiful film telling a powerful story that many of us can relate to as we fight through the heaviness of loss. In the aftermath of tragedy, it can be far too easy to lose hope and blame God. The reality is that yes, terrible things happen, but we are never abandoned or forgotten. God will carry us to the other side of the pain and into a place where we will see that His purpose & plan for us is better than we can imagine. While it’s hard to understand why some lives are taken much sooner than we ever thought possible, every life, loss, heartache and tear is never wasted.

Moonrise is exclusively streaming now on Pure Flix.

Cast includes:
Granger Smith as Will Brown
Amber Smith as Claire Brown
Piper Clurman as Ellie Brown
Sonya Balmores as Sam Lin
Rose Bianco as Sophie Wallace
Wally Welch as Eric Wallace

4.5/5