THE GREAT GILLY HOPKINS

If you want a film that takes foster care, abandonment, and the need for family seriously, this is a strong choice for older children through adults. It is emotional, sometimes funny, and deeply concerned with what Christian love can do for a rebellious child.

The film’s content calls for discernment. Gilly uses obscenities, and a suggested profanity is sternly rebuked. Her rebellion also includes bullying, fighting, stealing, lying, and running away. Still, the story presents these actions as wrong and ultimately moves toward transformation, love, and resolution.

For a family with middle schoolers or older children, WORTH THE TRIP — AGES 12 AND UP; parents should decide carefully for younger children.

Twelve-year-old Gilly Hopkins enters another foster home determined to prove that this family will give up on her, too. Her new foster mother, Maime Trotter, is a devout Christian who refuses to abandon children, while Gilly’s new foster brother, William Ernest, has serious personality difficulties.

As Gilly struggles at school and searches for the mother who abandoned her, the love of Maime, Ernest, and their neighbor Mr. Randolph begins challenging everything she believes about family.

Four stars means this is an unusually strong character drama. The movie is real, emotional, sometimes funny, and captivating. It pulls at the heartstrings and can make you laugh and cry.

The direction is terrific, and every actor is excellent. The film’s emotional power comes from its attention to a young girl shaped by the foster care system and desperately searching for her mother. It is a unique teenage character movie with a strong Christian heart.

The film presents a strong Christian worldview through Maime Trotter and Mr. Randolph, whose faith and love stand in contrast to Gilly’s rebellion. It includes strong references to Jesus and portrays Christian characters as people who refuse to give up on children.

Gilly begins by rejecting this foster family and treating its members with hostility. She believes she can manipulate them, but their Christian love, along with Ernest’s naïve love, changes her. The movie connects family with steadfast care rather than merely biology, while presenting rebellion, cruelty, and selfishness as destructive.

The film’s central question is whether Gilly will find her family and God’s love. Scripture speaks of God’s welcome in terms of adoption: “You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons” (Romans 8:15).

This is a moving, well-made story about a rebellious child discovering that Christian love does not give up. Its brief language and difficult behavior call for discernment, but older children and adults can find much to discuss and cherish. Our answer is WORTH THE TRIP — AGES 12 AND UP.