Reel Talk: Netflix drama ‘The Unforgivable’ starring Sandra Bullock and Viola Davis
Photo Credit: Kimberley French/Netflix/ Illustration by EEW Magazine Online)
By Kandace Hopkins // EEW Magazine Online // Reel Talk
Forgiveness is a divine virtue not often extended to the condemned—a theme that runs through Nora Fingscheidt’s “The Unforgivable,” a Netflix drama that follows Seattleites dealing with the aftermath and trauma of the killing of a cop during an eviction.
After serving 20 years in prison for the crime, Ruth (Sandra Bullock), is paroled and tries to rebuild her life much to the chagrin of those that do not believe she should be offered any redemption.
Ruth’s night-shift factory job chopping off the heads of salmon and her other gig doing construction for a future homeless shelter offer no glitz and glamor. She sloughs her way through life alone, bruised, and rejected. Despite her mundane existence, the dead officer’s sons (Will Pullen and Tom Guiry) think Ruth’s life is too glitzy and good, and she is deserving of more punishment.
Sandra Bullock as Ruth in Netflix’s “The Unforgivable” (Credit: Kimberley French/Netflix)
The adoptive parents (Richard Thomas and Linda Emond) who raised Ruth’s orphaned baby sister, Katherine, purposely neglect to tell the adoptee about her older biological sibling. The adult Katherine (Aisling Franciosi), though haunted by memories of an unfamiliar brunette, cannot piece the puzzle of her past together.
The screenplay, adapted by Peter Craig, Hillary Seitz and Courtenay Miles from a British mini-series, causes viewers to ponder the merits of forgiveness and wrestle with the question, who are we to judge and withhold redemption?
For that reason, in spite of its strong language and some violence, it is a good watch for Christians.
The plot does not leave Ruth entirely without advocates. On her side is Jon Bernthal, a lawyer who extends grace to the under-the-radar felon and later—reluctantly—Viola Davis, his wife.
Davis plays a mother raising two Black sons in the home Ruth formerly inhabited with her sister and argues, if her Black sons were in Ruth’s position, “they would be dead.”
The acting is superb, but the tone of the slow-burning drama is devastatingly depressing at times. Still, Davis and Bullock deliver compelling performances worth watching.
Our only wish? More screentime for Davis.
EEW Magazine Online gives “The Unforgivable” 4 out 5 stars.
Rated R for language and some violence. Running time: 1 hour 52 minutes.