This is a powerful story. And it's a true story.
Hilary Swank stars as Betty Anne Waters who goes to Law School to free her brother, Kenny Waters, played by Sam Rockwell from a crime he did not commit.
The film flashes between past and present moments of their lives telling their moving story. Sometimes when you watch films that contain flashbacks, it's really noticable. In this film, the flashbacks are succint and smooth - you don't even realise they're happening until they are upon you.
This film moved me to tears as the story follows two siblings who grew up in abusive household. To escape from the horror, they broke into people's houses so they could pretend to have a normal life - to pretend that their Mother wasn't a prostitute.
Eventually their Mother was seen to be too unfit to take care of them and both Betty and Kenny were taken to separate foster homes.
When I look at his life, I think no wonder he ended up there. It's amazing how our family upbringing can change the course of our lives. His parents were troubled and so was he. But did he deserve 18 years in jail?
This film was a powerful experience for me. I really felt the weight of their experience on my shoulders while watching the film.
The thing I realised the most is that young people can grow up in horrible, abusive and restricting homes. We need to be mindful of those who don't have a happy home life. We need to strech out a hand to help those who don't have a caring, loving and joyous home life.
Do you know someone in this situation?
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