Starring: Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jon Bernthal, Richard Thomas, Linda Emond, Aisling Franciosi, Emma Nelson, Will Pullen, Tom Guiry, Jessica McLeod, Rob Morgan
Distributor: Netflix
Runtime: 112 mins. Reviewed in Dec 2021
Reviewer: Fr Peter Malone msc
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A woman is freed from prison after serving a 20-year sentence for the shooting of the local sheriff. She finds it difficult to adjust to ordinary life, as well as searching for her young sister, five at the time of the shooting, who has been adopted.
This is an American drama with several strong plotlines, some intense characters, interconnections and an arresting final twist.
It is based on a television series, The Unforgiven. The Unforgivable seems a better title because the person who is not being forgiven has shot a police officer on duty.
She is Ruth Slater, a strong role for Sandra Bullock in middle age. She has confessed to the crime so there seems to be no mystery at all. And she has served 20 years in prison, getting out as the film opens. She has become rather hardened by her experience, seems to have no future prospects, but is consumed by her search for her sister who was five years old at the time of the shooting. Ruth experiences a variety of flashbacks throughout the film, which background for the audience her family, including her father’s suicide and her bringing up the little sister, the resistance to moving out of the family home leading to the death of the sheriff.
Ruth is under supervision by her strong-minded but sympathetic parole officer, Vincent Cross (Morgan). She has to live in a hostel, in a room with three hard women. She has refused a carpentry job (her professional talent) because of her crime. She does find work in a salmon factory, and a part-time job in carpentry constructing a centre for the homeless. But, she is intent on finding her sister even though the law has forbidden this. We have a certain sympathy for Ruth but she is off-putting because of her hard attitudes.
In the meantime, we see the sister, Katie (Franciosi from The Nightingale), a talented pianist, adopted by a sympathetic couple – Michael and Rachel Malcolm (Thomas and Emond), who have not told her the truth. We also see Katie’s flashbacks, glimpses of the fatal events. Katie is good friends with the couple’s daughter, Emily (Nelson). Clearly, the search is one of the main themes.
However, as suggested earlier, this is a strong drama and introduces two further themes. The first concerns the two, now-adult, sons of the deceased sheriff. The older is angry and wants vengeance, shocked that Ruth is allowed to live an ordinary life. The younger brother is resistant, contrives to meet Ruth, but becomes bitter (aggravated by domestic difficulties with his wife). The other theme opens when Ruth goes back to look at the family home, encounters a new owner, a lawyer played by Vincent D’Onofrio, whom she tries to persuade to search for her sister. There is a powerful scene when Ruth eventually meets the couple with disastrous consequences. The lawyer’s wife, played by Viola Davis, has a hard and harsh attitude towards Ruth – but, in a moving sequence, is forced to listen to Ruth and think about what has happened to her.
All the themes begin to converge at the end, potential for violence, potential for Ruth to see her sister, vengeance for the sins of the deceased sheriff and an unexpected twist.
Strong plot, strong cast, interesting drama – and some final tears.
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