Official Promotional Image / Angel Studios
Readers may remember the July 4, 2023 release, “Sound of Freedom,” which aimed to expose the human trafficking crisis.
Exactly one year later on this past July 4, Angel Studios released “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot.” The film addresses the needs of children in the foster care system. Although the storyline of the two films is unrelated, they share a powerful message of mercy.
At one point in “Sound of Hope,” protagonist Donna Martin holds her foster daughter close and says, “You are a gift and you were only ever meant to be loved.” When life gets rocky (as it certainly does for the many families in the film!), we are all called to place our hope in the one unchanging constant – the unconditional love of God.
“Sound of Hope” tells the compelling true story of Reverend W.C. and Donna Martin as they pave the way for their rural parish in East Texas to take in 77 children from the foster care system. Ultimately, their witness and example empties the system of every child needing placement within the surrounding 100 miles.
The film has to teeter a delicate balance between depicting the grittiness of the victims’ struggles without completely scandalizing the viewers. While the movie is overall successful at this, more sensitive viewers may still find certain scenes to be too intense. Other viewers, who may have had first-hand experiences similar to those in the film, may feel like the sufferings and challenges were not depicted strongly enough.
Overall, “Sound of Hope” is a well-done film that invites Christians to reflect on the human suffering around them and the need for faith to take action.
There are two layers of themes in the film. At face value, it tells the compelling story of children who “no one else wanted,” but who are welcomed with loving arms into a community of faith. The messiness of family life and the challenges of unconditional love are on full display. Those who have a heart for children in the foster care system will appreciate the attention that this film draws to the foster care needs in the US, which are rarely discussed and all too quickly forgotten.
On the deeper, more universal level this story powerfully resounds with themes of mercy and the Parable of the Lost Sheep. The children in the foster care system are abandoned, neglected, and desperately in need of love. Just as there is nothing they can do to earn or deserve the love of a family, there is nothing we can do to earn the love of the Father.
The church community in Possum Trot is a powerful analogy for the mercy of the Father who greets each one of us with open arms. In the film, when a foster child is brought into the church for the first time the whole community cheers and welcomes him saying, “The Lord heard you.”
In one particularly moving scene, the young boy arrives at his foster family’s home for the first time. His sister waits in the car, hesitantly, but he runs straight to the father who scoops him up in a warm embrace. Although many of us cannot relate to the trauma of being without a home in the foster care system, we can all relate to the human need for belonging and the universal need for God’s fatherly love.
