Overcomer is a 2019 American Christiandrama film directed by Alex Kendrick, who co-wrote the script with Stephen Kendrick. It is the Kendrick brothers' sixth film and their second through their subsidiary, Kendrick Brothers Productions. The film was released by Sony Pictures through its label, Affirm Films, on August 23, 2019. It received mixed critical reviews but was well-received by audiences, grossing $38 million worldwide against a $5 million budget and garnering Alex Kendrick's third "A+" on CinemaScore. He is the second director to have three films receive the grade, after Rob Reiner.
Plot
John Harrison is a basketball coach at a high school. Due to the manufacturing plant being moved to another city, all of the good basketball players, along with their families, must move also. School Principal Olivia Brooks tells John that the school is losing several teachers and coaches and that she needs him to coach cross country, as she doesn’t want the school to lose another program. John agrees to be the running coach for Hannah Scott, who is asthmatic. Hanna lives with her grandmother and has been told that both her parents are dead. Hannah also steals items from students at school and has a collection of them. One day, on his hospital visits to help the pastor, John accidentally enters the room of Thomas Hill. Hill is blind and suffering from diabetic complications. Hill also had been a cross country runner. After couple of visits to see Hill, John finds out that Hill is Hannah's father. John also later finds out that the principal was Hannah's mother's friend and has been paying her tuition fees. Hannah is told about her father and is taken to meet him. Though reluctant at first, she eventually accepts him and starts visiting him more. Through the process she discovers herself and also strengthens her Christian faith and her belief in JesusChrist as her father. Hannah returns all of the stolen items and practices rigorously. On the day of the State Championship race, John gives Hannah ear buds and a player. John tells her to play the player as the race begins. Through the race, Hannah hears her father's voice of coaching and encouragement, leading her to win the race and become the state champion. Later, Hill passes away. A couple of years later, Hannah tells her story to her cross country friends. Then Hannah puts a flash drive in the player and runs through the city while listening to the recording from her father which begins with "It's your 21st birthday".
Cast
Production
The idea that resulted in Overcomer came to Alex Kendrick in 2011 while he was visiting cross-country events for children: Overcomer was filmed mainly in Columbus, Georgia, with a few scenes shot in Nashville, Tennessee and Albany, Georgia. In the summer of 2018, Affirm Films and Provident Films announced that they had wrapped up filming and were now in post-production. Overcomer was made with a $5 million budget, which is $2 million more than their last film, War Room's budget. Because of the larger budget, the film was shot with the same camera equipment used to film The Avengers, with the indoor shots being filmed in sets built by the production crew, which was something the Kendricks had never done before in their previous films. The film's producer and co-writer Stephen Kendrick said of their work on the film: " the best shot... he best lighting. I would say the best acting in so many ways. The storyline has some neat twists and turns in it." Several actors appearing in earlier films by the Kendrick Brothers were cast for roles in Overcomer, including Priscilla Shirer and Ben Davies. Paul Mills, who wrote the score for War Room, also returned to compose for Overcomer. The soundtrack includes the record setting No. 1 Christian song "You Say" by Lauren Daigle that held the top spot for 62 weeks. It also crossed over and reached No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary charts.
Theme
Overcomer's main theme is finding one's identity in Christ, and is based mainly on Ephesians 1 and 2. On the issue the film was intended to address, Alex Kendrick related the following: Concerning the religious nature of the film and the Kendrick Brothers' previous productions, Kendrick said: The title of the film was inspired by.
Release
Overcomer screened early in several cities, including Atlanta, Georgia. It also received a pre-screening on March 28, 2019 at the National Religious Broadcasters' Proclaim 19. The film was theatrically released in the United States on August 23, 2019.
In the United States and Canada, Overcomer was released alongside Angel Has Fallen, Overcomer was projected to gross around $6 million from 1,723 theaters in its opening weekend. Prior to its release, Fandango reported that the film's advance ticket sales were surpassing those of Breakthrough, which debuted to $11.3 million in March 2019. Overcomer made $3 million on its first day, including $775,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to slightly over-perform, debuting to $8.1 million over the weekend; as with many faith-based films, it played best in Mid-West and Southern states. The film has grossed $38 million worldwide as of January 2020. According to the film's director, Alex Kendrick, 50 people in one theater accepted Christ after seeing the film, calling it "one of many, many stories" of people affected by the film.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 50% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 5.79/10. On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 17 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale. While Deadline Hollywood noted it had become "standard" for faith-based films, Kendrick became just the second director to have three different films earn the score.
