What would a woman feel, watching this movie, if she has already had an abortion?
My husband and I saw Unplanned. It was the first time we’ve ever paid to watch an R-rated film at the theater, but trusted the feedback from friends who said the MPAA rating was “off”.
I really only had ONE main question on my mind:
*** What would a woman feel, watching this movie, if she has already had an abortion? ***
It was rated R for graphic and disturbing images by the MPAA, an admission that dismembering a fetus with a vacuum is disturbing. So in many parts of the country, a girl can GET an abortion without parent consent, but she can’t WATCH a movie about abortion without it.
So, was the movie only made for pro-lifers?
Who else would even WANT to see it?
This was my curiosity.
I wanted to watch the movie through the eyes of women who, perhaps at one time, found themselves in a crisis pregnancy of their own, who felt like they had no other options, and who were pressured to abort.
How would THESE women feel, watching an anti-abortion movie? How could they possibly WANT to watch it, at the risk of feeling triggered by memories of their own trauma, or of feeling movie-induced guilt? (Having not yet seen it, but assuming this is what the movie would cause.)
Why would ANYONE want to subject themselves to that?
I had to find out if I could recommend the movie to THESE women.
I read reviews that said that the movie was about LOVE and REDEMPTION, but none of the trailers really provided any significant glimpses into that. They all seemed to focus on horror and grief.
But, like many movies, I found that the action reel was NOT an accurate representation of the experience this film provided.
I don’t know if I should offer a spoiler-alert here, because the movie’s power doesn’t rely on surprises – it’s relatively predictable. But I’m going to share some things that are not revealed in the trailers.
First of all, the disturbing images happen during the early scenes of the film, showing one woman’s narrated experience with having a vacuum aspirated abortion, and then later a chemically-induced abortion (from a pill). The rest of the movie shows how she deals with the memory of her experiences.
At first, she buries the memories as deeply as she can, and throws herself into the cause of helping other women in crisis, dedicating her life to giving women the care they need. Her passion and heart for helping women is genuine.
But then… (insert trailer clip here)…
… and she spends the next segment of the film dealing with her feelings of deep regret for her own abortions, and for participating at a leadership level in an organization that was consciously deceiving thousands of women in crisis who were given mistruths about their procedures, and who were not fully informed of their options.
The movie was masterful at helping the viewer feel a good deal of what this woman felt all along the spectrum (as this is a true story). In the end, you feel (with her) a complete sense of being healed – her memories are still sad and probably always will be, but the remorse, horror, and grief is powerfully resolved, and she feels wholly loved, forgiven, and restored.
If someone had told me this before watching the film, I’m not sure I would have believed it was possible – not possible to experience, let alone possible to portray on the big screen. But I am convinced that this movie speaks truth. It illustrates how God can reach and restore a person, no matter how dark, fallen, or lost that person may feel. Here is a woman that was complicit in over 20,000 fetal terminations AND came to feel the full weight of it – but then ultimately felt that burden lifted. Watch the movie to feel her healing with her.
To sum up, if you or anyone you know has had an abortion or participated in one, and want to feel and remember it differently than perhaps you do now, I strongly encourage you to watch the movie.
I’m now convinced that these women are exactly who the movie was made for.
I invite you to see and feel it all, even the darker side of it, because feeling her Godly sorrow with her is precisely what makes the feelings of relief, joy, and awe possible.
#unplanned #lawofpolarity #rarefaith
Learn more here -> https://www.unplannedfilm.com/
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One Response
Masterful review! From what you wrote, I think it might help others with deep regrets even though their sorrow and regret and grief may have nothing to to with abortion.