Synopsis

In the face of tragedy, Chris Williams made the most important decision of his life.

On a cold night in 2007, a devoted father of four and a seventeen-year-old drunk driver both received life sentences. In one violent, devastating instant, each face a drastically different future. But as Chris Williams sat in a demolished vehicle, realizing that his wife, unborn baby, nine-year-old daughter, and eleven-year-old son had just been killed, he committed to do something extraordinary: he would forgive. Chris Williams’ story is the cinematic tale of how someone can forgive despite the desire for revenge that surfaces within the dark corners of the human heart—showing the world that hope, love and forgiveness can overcome all when you just let go.

Henry Ian Cusick, Emmy Nominee, as Chris Williams in the true story “Just Let Go”.

As we begin the New Year, this message of forgiveness is an important reminder, that forgiveness can bring peace to your soul. “It has allowed a terrible tragedy … to be turned into, in many aspects, a tremendous blessing. That has been one of the most fascinating things to experience,” Williams said in a interview with the Deseret News. “To see the lives blessed since the crash, it has been overwhelming how many positive things have come from it.”

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Trailer

Review

This movie is a reminder as to why we should Forgive those that have wronged us because we aren’t always blameless in life.

The movie starts out and we see Chris being taken to the hospital and we know there has been a car accident, but you don’t actually see what happened until much later in the movie.  There is a lot of back and forth between present and the past, mostly with Chris remembering bits and pieces of the night that took most of his family, but also of happier times with his wife and children.  Now not all of his children died in the car, his oldest son Michael wasn’t in the car (my guess is he is around 16-18 since he can drive) and one of his sons, Sam, survived the car accident, but not without some serious injuries.

The movie comes across as dark and/or depressing, but that is to be expected due to the subject matter.  However, have tissues ready for about 3/4 of the way through.  We learn some things about Chris and why he is struggling with what was done to his family by Curtis – the 17 year old drunk kid that hit them.  Sometimes a life can be turned around by faith and forgiveness and this might be one of those stories…but you’ll have to watch it to find out the ending.

We give this 4 1/2 paws and it will make me think about how to handle a situation the next time I feel that I am wronged.