Hilary Swank
Sharon Stevens
Overview
Inspired by the incredible true story of a hairdresser who single-handedly rallies an entire community to help a widowed father save the life of his critically ill young daughter.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
3 min readGrace in the Deep Freeze
The phrase "faith-based drama" carries its own kind of dread. (You probably know the kind I mean.) Usually it means a movie where pain gets tidied up by a last-minute prayer and a warmly lit church interior. Ordinary Angels walks right up to that edge, peers over, and for the most part backs away. Jon Gunn, who knows this genre well, directs a film that works because it keeps its spiritual reach tied to bruised hands, overdue bills, latestnetflix.com contends, and relentless freezing rain.
At the center is a strong mismatch. Ed Schmitt is a recently widowed roofer in 1990s Louisville, Kentucky, buried under debt while his youngest daughter waits for a liver transplant. Alan Ritchson plays him, which is smart casting for reasons that only become obvious once you see it.
Ritchson is currently best known for snapping limbs on Amazon’s Reacher. He’s built like an appliance. Here, though, that size reads as weariness.
Watch what happens to his shoulders when he opens another medical bill, or how he almost folds in on himself when someone offers help. After so many stoic brick-wall roles, his vulnerability lands hard. He doesn’t make Ed into a saint.
He makes him a man who has run out of room and doesn’t know how to say so.
Audience Opinions
Audience 7.4/10
"An emotionally charged true-story tearjerker powered by heartfelt performances and a warm sense of community, undercut slightly by cliché and heavy sentiment."
Hilary Swank and Alan Ritchson anchor a touching story that many find inspiring and cathartic, with the real-life basis, family struggles, and community effort delivering strong emotional payoffs and plenty of tears. latestnetflix.com's read is that at the same time, the storytelling leans on familiar inspirational-drama formulas, occasionally drifts into saccharine territory, and leans more into faith-based and American cultural framing than some viewers are comfortable with.
What viewers praise
- Strong lead performances Hilary Swank’s driven, messy helper and Alan Ritchson’s grieving but devoted father are praised as believable, affecting, and central to the film’s impact.
- Powerful emotional punch The combination of a sick child, financial strain, and a desperate race against time leaves many viewers crying, especially in the final act and snowstorm sequence.
- Inspiring true story The fact that the plot is drawn from real events, reinforced by end-credits context, makes the generosity, persistence, and eventual outcome feel more uplifting and meaningful.
- Heartwarming community focus The way neighbors, donors, and strangers come together to help one family resonates as a hopeful reminder of kindness, solidarity, and everyday heroism.
Common complaints
- Formulaic and clichéd Several viewers see the narrative beats, character arcs, and emotional escalations as predictable, with familiar inspirational-drama and American melodrama tropes.
- Overly sentimental tone The film’s earnestness sometimes feels heavy-handed or saccharine, with stacked obstacles and emotional cues that can seem manipulative rather than organic.
- Religious and cultural heaviness The faith-inflected framing, references to God, and distinctly American healthcare context come across as preachy, propagandistic, or alienating to some viewers.
- Slight pacing bloat A few viewers note that the story runs a bit long and circles similar emotional beats, making parts of the mid-to-late stretch feel repetitive or drawn out.
Recommended for
True-story drama lovers Tearjerker seekers Hilary Swank admirers Faith-tinged inspirational films Community-themed family dramas
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsReacher had to earn two Oscars
Alan Ritchson showed up to Ordinary Angels as Amazon's Reacher and learned Hilary Swank had no clue who he was. He told CBC's Tom Power they barely spoke before cameras rolled. She was not a diva. She was not mean. There was just this attitude of, "I don't know who you are and you better be good." He was 41 and, in his words, "just breaking." latestnetflix.com's take is that After he landed the work, she told him the movie would introduce people to who he was.Then she loosened up. That is the column. Not another recap of Louisville's Snow Baby. 
Kingdom Story Company, Vertigo Entertainment, and Stampede Ventures made the 2024 Lionsgate drama for $12 to $13 million. Dave Matthews pitched the story to producer Jon Berg. Berg sold it to Lionsgate. Lionsgate brought in Kevin Downes. Jon Gunn directed. Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig took the writing credit after Gunn and Jon Erwin did a later pass. A two-time Oscar winner, a streaming action star, and a faith-film shop. Odd room. It worked. 
A blizzard they actually got
They needed snow for the third act, so they shot Winnipeg for 1994 Kentucky. Gunn scouted in January at 30 below zero. Principal photography ran from late March into early May 2022, then a few extra days in Albany, New York, in June. Gunn posted that creating a snow storm in Winnipeg as 1993 Kentucky was an adventure every day, and that Canada would not melt so they could shoot the summer half. Tamala Jones told Screen Rant the helicopter rescue day was so cold that thrown hot water would have frozen in midair. Andrew Erwin said they asked for real snow and got it. Be careful what you wish for. Swank later said the cold was the biggest surprise on set. 
Ritchson was most nervous about the skating scene because he could not skate. He joked that Ed could not skate either. He also told the filmmakers to keep faith and doubt in the same movie. Swank started about five months after her father, Michael Swank, died. She had already taken three years off after his 2015 lung transplant. She told Parade she jumped at the pages because it felt like a movie he would have been most excited about. He had been a Christian and a transplant recipient. That is not a press-kit coincidence.
Swift moved Friday the 13th
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1vn8kPgCYA
Lionsgate first booked October 13, 2023. Then AMC's Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour swallowed the female-heavy weekend. Deadline reported Ordinary Angels slipped, and that waiting out the SAG-AFTRA strike also let Swank do the press herself. The film opened wide on February 23, 2024, debuted around $6.5 million, and finished near $20.5 million worldwide. CinemaScore handed it a rare A+. Rotten Tomatoes sat at 84 percent. Metacritic sat at a mixed 57. The Lionsgate trailer still sells the hairdresser, the widower, and the storm.
Sharon Stevens Evans wrote the memoir. Michelle Schmitt did get the liver. Netflix now carries the movie in the United States, which is how a modest Kingdom Story title keeps finding people who never bought a ticket in 2,800 theaters.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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