California’s gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep.
Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside. Then she meets Michael Hosea. A man who seeks his Father’s heart in everything, Michael Hosea obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s every bitter expectation until, despite her resistance her frozen heart begins to thaw. But with her unexpected softening come overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband’s pursuing love, terrified of the truth she can no longer deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael Hosea does…the One who will never let her go.

My Review

I went and saw Redeeming Love tonight. Redeeming Love is based on the book by Francine Rivers. This book is based on the book of Hosea in the Bible. I’d heard several takes on it. So I thought i’d share my thoughts. First of all, it’s pretty awesome that a Christian Author was able to have her book made into a movie. Francine Rivers wrote the screen play. I really liked the redemptive message throughout the movie. It’s a wonderful picture of our relationship with Christ. It was really neat that they did not take it out or make it more of a side note. The actors did a wonderful job portraying their characters especially Angel & Michael.

Does it follow the book? Yes. As always, when you transfer it into a movie format, it always changes the plot a bit. It’d been a long time since i’d read the book but my friend who just finished it said it followed the book but in a more quicker timeline. The book goes into more detail, depth, and story plot then the movie could. You could read the book and not feel like you were reading the movie script.
I had gone into it with some reservation since i’d heard it had graphic sex and violence. I was expecting it to show more and push the line. It was not as graphic or as violent as I expected.

Subject matter: Sex trafficking, violence, abuse, prostitution, Redemption, God’s love, forgiveness.
Sex: While it is clear that Angel has no clothes on, nothing private was shown. Also, while it is clear by their faces, they are having sex, you don’t see it and they are partially clothed. Part of it is in a brothel and it’s implied that other women are in other rooms having sex.
Violence: There is some fighting you can see and some that you just hear. It’s not overly violent and gruesome. It gave us a picture of the horrible abuse these women faced without being overly descriptive.

So I would recommend this movie and the book to adults. It’s not for everyone though. I would take a look at it and decide if it is right for you.