Vera Farmiga makes a heavenly debut as a director with Higher Ground, a compelling drama about a woman's spiritual journey.
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Higher Ground
Overview
Inspired by screenwriter Carolyn S. Briggs' memoir This Dark World, a tight-knit spiritual community is thrown off-kilter when one of their own begins to question her faith, love, and trust - in human relationships as well as in God.
Director and cast
- Vera Farmiga Director
- Vera Farmiga as Corinne Walker
- Donna Murphy as Kathleen Walker
- Dagmara Dominczyk as Annika
- John Hawkes as CW Walker
- Joshua Leonard as Ethan Miller
- Nina Arianda as Wendy Walker
- Taissa Farmiga as Teenage Corinne Walker
- Taylor Schwencke as Young Wendy Walker
- Boyd Holbrook as Teenage Ethan Miller
- Norbert Leo Butz as Pastor Bill
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
The film's quiet realism demands from us our own act of faith: We're asked to watch closely and to listen intently in the promise of a greater reward to come. Well, the promise is partly kept.
Farmiga's first film is good enough to make us look forward to her next one.
The film is refreshingly free of proselytizing. In its place, however, is a whiff of condescension.
This film might easily have settled for mocking religion. Instead, it's a fascinating glimpse into a culture that forces some people to choose between fitting in and opting out.
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