Unplanned

Hooboy.  So, it came out of right field, but PureFlix put out their first R-rated film, and, of course, it tackles the prickly subject of abortion.  Now, don’t mistake me: I went into this with more interest than usual, what with I’m Not Ashamed showing us that PF can somehow bring some balance and genuine pathos to something so fraught with opportunities for failure as the Columbine massacre.  ‘Twas worth a shot, if nothing else.  Well…

Based on the book from former Planned Parenthood worker Abby Johnson (which, for the sake of transparency, has been challenged by both PP themselves as well as previous and current clients, so take it all as you will), things seem to start off with something like the nuance I was hoping for, showing the film Abby as a PP client, both chemical and “traditional”.  But things spiral wildly from there.  First, there’s the odd timeline of events:  Abby is painted as a slightly naïve, easily-led college grad who gets mixed up with PP as a volunteer, seemingly sticking around not just because she’s a client, but also at least in part because of a repulsion against the anti-abortion protesters perpetually screaming at clients as they enter the clinic.  (A note: I won’t be using the term “pro-life” at any point, ’cause it’s a bullshit moniker.  It was chosen because it purports a position you can’t counter in easy linguistic terms, as the opposite would be anti-life.  No such whitewashing here, it’s anti-abortionism through and through.)  But the film kicks off eight – count ’em: eight – years into the story, where a glimpse at a dramatically hyperbolic sonograph suddenly makes Abby question everything.  This could have worked if it happened earlier, but the intervening years exposed her to so much worse, including a direct physical encounter with the aborted remains, that it’s difficult to buy her change of heart.

Of course, this course change is partially explained away by the clinic’s director, who’s essentially painted as Emperor Palpatine in executive woman form.  She’s constantly trying to push her abortion numbers up (something frankly antithetical to PP’s end goals, by the by), she nearly tents her fingers and glowers in maniacal glee at the thought of aborted fetuses, and she tries to groom Abby as her successor.  Couple this caricature of characterization with the staff being the most cavalier bunch to ever work in any branch of medicine, and you can see the clear demonization of Planned Parenthood as a concept by the filmmakers.  Add some obviously inflated abortion statistics (this clinic alone pushes upwards of 30-40 abortions every weekend, and its surrounding environs sure don’t seem too populated (though you COULD chalk that up to a film shot on the cheap and on the down-low so as to prevent backlash)), and it’s clear we have a scare film on our hands.  To the film’s credit, I do think more should be said about potential side effects – both physical and emotional – that can result from the abortion procedure, but it’s clear the film’s insistence on showing some gory bits (the reason for both the R rating and the lack of official pushback thereagainst from the filmmakers) is along the same shock-value lines as parading signs with fetus parts during protests.

Credit where credit’s due, the cast is generally fine, with star Ashley Bratcher occasionally bringing some decent heat, but the script everyone’s forced to work from ensures no one makes it out smelling too rosy.  In pure PureFlix fashion, the cinematography is flat and lifeless, the editing is barely standard, and the music is less than stock.  Worse, we apparently haven’t learned anything from the failure of tripe like Voiceless, ’cause we can’t help but tell women’s stories – even those originally written by women – from the perspective of older white men.  Well, at least this time some women starred and actually spoke, so I guess maybe we’re seeing incremental progress?

In any case, Unplanned does nothing to surprise anybody at this point.  It’s shrill anti-abortion propaganda at some of its sleaziest, and it’s done in the usual tactless and style-less fashion we’ve come to expect from the faith-exploiting PureFlix money machine.  (Gotta love it when you’re looking for actual information on the movie beyond what IMDb will tell you, and this is what the website decides to focus on:)

With its minuscule budget and the company’s deft utilization of righteousness, of course it made money, regardless of its rating.  I expected nothing less, and I’m growing ever more depressed as my expectations continuously come true, and the PureFlixes of the world go on their merry ways, exploiting a niche market of politics and sentiment whilst riling its customers further into clades of extremist nonsense.  Don’t worry, PureFlix faithful, you’re not the problem, you’re not the loud louts at the protests, you’re all sweet, innocent lambs sympathetically stretching out hands of Good, like Marilisa in the film.  Gag me.  Don’t bother with this trash, unless you want a glimpse into the anti-abortion mindset these days, and even then a wholly shabby one.