barbosa-vicki I finally got around to watching this movie on DVD and am enchanted with it. Unlike most Christian-themed movies, it is not preachy; it just tells the story of Hannah, a teenager who has to deal with the shattering circumstances of her birth. I recommend it for anyone who has been involved in any way with an abortion, or is considering an abortion.It deals with pain, heartbreak, healing, forgiveness and love in a gentle yet compelling way. The actors do a splendid job. I never cry at movies, but found myself doing so while watching this one. Yet it leaves the viewer at the end with hope and inspiration.It's a beautiful movie and does indeed convey that every life is beautiful and worthy of being treasured.

grlwndr23 It is quite obvious from the opening shots that this is no typical low-budget foray into independent film making. The gorgeous cinematography is one of the only redeeming features of this ham-fisted, dogmatic, two-hour lecture on how the pro-life movement is superior, because 'every life is beautiful'. It would have been been at least honest if this film had been advertised as the covertly Christian propaganda it was, but hey, it's probably super effective to evangelize on the down low. That is, if the viewer is unintelligent & easily available for brainwashing.That aside, the film was very careful not to delve too deeply into medical facts, & the sermon from Jasmine Guy was a disgrace to medical professionals everywhere (her character is a nurse). Sanctimonious in its delivery & uneven as storytelling, the script renders the viewer unsympathetic to any character in the movie, because they were mostly written as one-dimensional automatons. The comic relief from Bmac (delightfully embodied by Chris Sligh) was the only semi-realistic persona in this Christian music laden, tawdry mess. The melodrama was thicker than a trashy Mexican telenovela.At any rate, if you are at all non-religious or have something of artistic expectation when you watch a film, skip this one unless you watch it with the sound off. You could likely create a more realistic story from the top of your head whilst watching the lovely scenery. Please be wary of all the 10/10 reviews, as they are just vibrations sounding from an insular, hyper-Christian echo chamber. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, this film is tailor made for your ilk. A tremendous waste of time, money, & resources for a 'Let's Ban Abortion' ad that runs a little over two hours, and not even cleverly so. Gah! That's two hours of clunky dialogue & a story lacking creativity as well as scientific accuracy. I will never get that back. I wish I could abort the memory of sitting through it.

Rich Wright Christian films, eh? Dontcha just lurve them. They can get away with numerous flaws in the plot, corny dialogue and soap-opera style melodramatics... as long as they preach the word of THE LORD. All criticism is null and void as long as His message gets out... so unbelievers, repent! Unfortunately, I'm an agnostic at best, so am prepared to risk the flames of hellfire to tell you what I REALLY think of this anti-abortion propaganda cunningly disguised as a feature film. Sooo... here we go. "Flexes his fingers".Hannah is a sick, sick 19 year old. She's got epilepsy, asthma and has had numerous hip operations over the years. She's also suicidal. The latest incident to hit her is fainting during a school play. While recuperating in hospital, she finds out from a doctor her fragile body and thoughts of inadequacy can be traced back to when she was still in the womb... and her mother tried to have her terminated. The procedure didn't work, but did leave her with constant mental and physical problems. She was then adopted by decent, God-fearing (what else?) folk.Devastated by this revelation, she decides to go on a road trip to Alabama to find her real mother. Along for the ride too is her 'perfect' childhood male pal and his bitchy girlfriend, with some nondescript nerds who are quickly disposed of. This Hunk she's known since her younger days... could the script be any less subtle in saying they belong together? His current squeeze is nothing more than a walking slut stereotype. We have no idea how they came to be a couple... maybe for the sake of the movie. Anyway, trying to pretend that anything else is gonna happen besides Mr Six Pack dumping the bitch and hooking up with Hannah is an insult to every thinking person out there... but get used to that feeling, cos there's plenty to go round.Twice Hannah and her posse get arrested, twice she manages to bail them out of prison time and massive fines by regaling her tearful story. In the USA? Yeah, right. Another noteworthy moment is where her and The Hunk hire a hotel room for the night... they have the most trivial of squabbles... whereupon she walks out, followed by her future beau... and they spend the rest of the evening curled up on a sofa in the foyer. Why? We don't know. And if they could do that in the first place, why bother paying for a room? Dumb, dumb, dumb. A convenient occurrence is also when she takes a dip in the ocean, fully-clothed (This is a Christian film, remember?) and ruins the phone in her back pocket. This is so no-one can contact her later on. Either these people are thick, or the hack writers are using any ends to justify the means. Probably a bit of both.Oh, and what with this being a RELIGIOUS movie, we have to have the obligatory scene in an empty church just before closing time, where the priest sits with a tearful Hannah on a pew and gives the most banal advice about 'trusting in God', the solution to all life's hurdles. Yeah, right... He didn't help me the other day when I couldn't find the last piece of my jigsaw. More evidence of their not-so-secret agenda can be found in the underlying moral that YOU SHOULD FORGIVE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES and Hannah, despite being 19, still being under the thumb of her father... because ya know, patriarchy rules. There's even a bit near the end when Hunky asks his permission if he can date his daughter. Dude... the 19th century called... they want their ideology back.Aside from all the stupidity and dogma throughout, it's just a badly made flick. The constant presence of annoying background music is distracting to say the least, and if I never see one more shot of a gently lapping ocean again during an 'emotional' moment... I'll be a very happy bunny. The actors do what they can with their limited roles, but it's to be hoped they can move on from doctrine infested tosh like this and star in a production where they can spread their wings... and not act as mouthpieces to a fundamentalist's cause. 3/10

Marcin Kukuczka Facing so much violence and injustice, cinema is rightly considered a medium that should promote other values, those ones that may really occur an oasis of a more beautiful world, at least a world of more beautiful and appealing content. Yet, when we face such pro-life movies like BELLA or October BABY co-directed by siblings Jon and Andrew Erwin who openly admitted to displaying traumatic aspect of abortion, we usually feel at odds. Undeniably, such values as beauty of life, forgiveness, understanding, dignity are likely to find their appeal among vast majority of audiences. Deep down, many people feel it. Yet, they have not stood a test of time in cinema, unfortunately. Is it possible to handle these themes in a sufficiently captivating way? May simplicity occur to flee simplifications? Gary Goldstein rightly observes that the Erwins' production, as "faith-based anti-abortion drama" is "a film whose poignancy is hard to deny." Yes, at its core, the pro-life message seems to arise in its fullness and, as Jackie K Cooper points out, "it makes its point" doing it "through the story." Its simplicity makes it fragile and authentic along with the emotional resonance of the story and the convincing performance by the leading star, a newcomer Rachel Hendrix. Yet, flaws within the frames of the plot and some naive points of storytelling may lead some eminent critics perceive such movies as "amateurish" and "ungainly" (Roger Ebert). Indeed, the themes of forgiveness and other Christian values are far richer and complex as to be packed within 100 minutes and delivered convincingly enough. Therefore, such movies usually reach their spiritual crescendos in the last 10 minutes when reconciliation is victorious, everyone forgives everyone and all people smile of profound joy. How fake and unnatural! Sometimes, you don't know what to cry at and what to laugh at! However, there seems to be something more that makes the movie enjoyable though it truly may "lack sufficient entertainment value to make its message go down more palantly" (Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter)The story of Hannah (Rachel Hendrix), born as a result of a failed-term abortion which her twin brother Jonathan did not survive, captures our attention thanks to her three phases: discovering, struggling and forgiving. The opening shot and her fainting on stage appears to hit the note for the emotional capacity. Ms Hendrix is beautiful enough to make Hannah an interesting character from the start, unknown enough to make Hannah an authentic character and skillful enough to deliver some unforgettable lines of words and emotions. For a newcomer, the actress plays the role with surprising ease making it all an authentic looking drama. While her ways lead to forgiveness, she saves her scenes from unnecessary sentiments and flees any hints of imposed spirituality. She beautifully inspires emotions while spirituality goes from within. That is good, especially because the films of that sort should not be preachy but innately moving. Furthermore, she reduces the number of 'monologues' that usually occur fatal to such movies. The best supporting performances include Jason Burkey as her friend (turning into lover) Jason, John Schneider as her adoptive father and Jasmine Guy as a nurse who talks about her trauma of abortion's hell. Yes, Ms Guy...something more about her:Although she is supplied with the longest monologue of the movie, she is actually most appreciated by the critics. Jackie K Cooper perceives her role as provided with "emotion, warmth and empathy" and Roger Ebert, who lacks enthusiasm about this film, states, after all, that "Jasmine Guy's monologue here is so well performed and effective that we almost forgive it for being (...) a contrivance." Some background characters, including Bmac (Chris Sligh), the humor incarnate in the trip sequence do not leave a lasting impression and make the film "jagged in parts" (Jackie K Cooper). A nice cure to that comes the priest (Rodney Clark) who, by quoting saint Paul, parallels to the story's moral conclusion. Where does his truth reside? A nice little scene in church which transcends forgiveness and transforms it from definition into action, from words into deeds.The music score is packed with, what Roger Ebert calls, "middle-of-the-road pop-rock" and it is difficult not to agree with this opinion. Whatever appeal it might have had in its intentions, perhaps to address young audience or referring directly to the film's message and imposing certain feelings on us, it is surely unhelpful and destructing. But that is a case of watching the film and listening to the songs. Nevertheless, when you solely listen to the soundtrack, the experience appears to be totally different and the result is not that bad. So, what it suffers is the lack of music-story collaboration. These are two separate realities in case of October BABY.All in all, not beautiful in the true sense of the word but in its way as a pro-life whisper among too loud roars of death. A fresh movie, no masterpiece, no intense, in-depth psychological case study of abortion trauma but...that is not, after all, what we want of such films. It's easier for majority to feel its heart expressed in simple and meaningful lines of the finale, something that each child saved from the heartless act of abortion may say to his/her parents having come of age: "thank you just for wanting me." There lies the heart of Hannah's story, the heart of implicit motto "every life is beautiful." Can you, viewer, hear such a voice?