Plot Summary
Rachel Angelo is a high-powered executive who has put in the hard work and hours to get a big promotion, and when she gets it, she goes out to party and makes a lapse in judgment regarding a man at the bar. Thus, she ends up pregnant and her boss threatens her to get rid of the child. However, she accidentally goes to a crisis pregnancy center and becomes conflicted about her decision. When she watches a random music video, she also thinks back to her family’s Jewish heritage and how they endured the Holocaust. Thus, she begins to change her mind about the life growing inside of her.
Production Quality (-1 points)
Tender Shoot Films is unfortunately among the worst at production. Their productions are consistently below market standards and below even zero-point productions. In Dying to Be Heard, video quality is poor and camera work is often filmed extremely close to people’s faces, not to mention the fact that it’s very shaky. Lighting is somewhat poor and sets, locations, and props are severely limited. Audio quality is also poor, picking up unnecessary background noises, not to mention the fact that the soundtrack is blaring. But by far the worst element of this production is the terribly disorienting editing that rivals My Refuge for how bad it can be. In the end, it feels like one has to try to make a production this bad.
Plot and Storyline Quality (-1 points)
Unfortunately, this theme being terrible only continues in other elements of this film. It’s extremely disappointing that often pro-life films are so ruined in this way. As previously mentioned, this so-called story is all over the place and lacks any continuity whatsoever. The subplots are extremely disjointed and are only very thinly related. Things are forced to go together as this story tries to cover way too much ground, even by having flashbacks within flashbacks. Perhaps the worst part of this plot is the fact that the dialogue is so poorly written that the characters are laughable. The ‘bad’ characters are extreme strawmen and nearly every conversation is either full of message-pushing or elements that make characters extremely black and white. Problems are fixed for no good reason and the ending is a very rushed and forced conclusion. Once again, you almost have to try to write a story this bad.
Acting Quality (-2 points)
Probably the worst part of this film is the awful acting. The lead actress often comes off as drunk or high, and she is awful at delivering her lines, even though there’s not much for her to work with. Most cast members fumble through their lines from time to time, like every scene was done in one take. Emotions are among the worst and everything is so awkward and unsure that it’s nearly unwatchable. It’s very hard to believe that movies like this are made.
Conclusion
Companies like FaithHouse, Cross Shadow, and Tender Shoot are extremely hard to figure. They churn out film content on a regular basis, yet it’s often very bad in every way. Production is often awful, plots are nonexistent, and acting is extremely amateurish. Yet they truck along and keep putting out films. Do they mean well? Do they just need more direction? We can only wonder about these things. All we can do if offer constructive criticism and hope it matters somehow.
Final Rating: -4 out of 10 points
Box Office Revolution 