“Try this, it’s disgusting.”
That’s a comically unappealing phrase I’ve heard numerous times in my life, usually at middle-school sleepovers when friends were inviting me to sample expired whipped cream or Mountain Dew mixed with Tang. It’s not a phrase I expected to hear over and over again in “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot.” Yet I did.
The newest film from the Christian production company Angel Studios, “Sound of Hope” recounts the true story of Rev. W.C. Martin and his wife, Donna, who inspired numerous people in their small town of Possum Trot, Texas, to become foster parents to the area’s hardest-to-place children. The film focuses primarily on the tender tenacity W.C. and Donna show to their foster children, particularly their especially troubled teenage daughter, Terri. The end result is a film that is heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, and, unfortunately, about as joyless as Angel Studios’ previous production “Sound of Freedom.”
Given its subject matter, one can forgive “Sound of Freedom” for being a rather dour film. The story of a man traversing the jungles of South America to rescue child sex slaves was never going to have much room for laughs or levity. But foster care isn’t human trafficking. Having fostered for over 10 years, I can say quite confidently that it fills your life with far more light than darkness and far more smiles than wails of sorrow. Speaking for myself and other foster parents I know, it’s about an 80/20 mixture of profound joy and profound
