Breakthrough

I don't believe in God but enjoyed this movie. Good human interest story. From the pastors relation with Johns mother and John's fathers lack of faith out of fear of getting his hopes up. People have been underwater in undercooled conditions for a long time and survived without brain damage before, that's how I believe he survived. Faith is a funny thing, you either have it or you don't. I don't have, but John's mom has faith for all of us and them some. I believe they would've pulled the plug if it wasn't for her stubborn pig headedness. Seeing a community come together spiritually behind a person in need was touching. Feel good movie.

This movie really pulls at the heartstrings. It was a film of fear, faith, hope and love. I thought the story was well put together and that it showed how anything can happen in the blink of an eye, yet how you choose to face it is the question. For this family and community-they chose to believe in their faith. Faith that the doctor could save him and faith in a higher-power.

Some people don't believe in God or have faith of any kind, and that's fine for them, but to see such reviews that are so angry at the mere thought that such a God could exist and that a miracle could happen, is unfathomable to them. I wonder why many non-believers get so worked up and angry over the possibility...when in life there are so many instances where truly wonderful and unexplainable things happen everyday.

7/10 - regardless of my religious views, I am a sucker for a true story - that being said, some elements of the true story came off as corny in this film adaptation (not to mention how irritating Chrissy Metz's character got by the end of the film (trying to outsmart the doctors, blatant disrespect of all, etc.) that it got hard to empathize for her)

This movie was a pleasant surprise. Ending up watching it on a whim with my sister who loves any movie based on a true story. And, yes, while the film is very heavy-handed with the religious propaganda, it's understandable given the film's circumstances. Truly a very emotionally gripping story led by a truly outstanding performance by Chrissy Metz. Seriously, she carries the film and acts her butt off. The rest of the surprisingly all-star cast play their role well. Would definitely recommend for believers and non-believers alike.

I hate to tell those that think this was a miracle but the situation is really not all that uncommon. And it's pretty established medical science.

The intense coldness of freezing water slows organ function and allows for prolonged survival without oxygen. The first documented case was in Switzerland with a young girl that fully recovered after being underwater for close to 45 minutes. In fact, hypothermia treatment is now commonly used to care for patients that have oxygen deprived brains but restored cardiac and pulmonary function. Dr. Atul Gwande outlines this in his book The Checklist Manifesto - which I highly recommend for this topic and the many others covered in the book. Dr. Gawande is a great writer and all of his books are well worth the time.

As for the movie, it was what pretty standard fair for this type of movie. Better production value and bigger name actors than most Christian movies but nothing overly noteworthy.