Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot (2024)

If irony is your love language, Sound of Hope will politely wait for you to leave. It’s 130 minutes of pure sincerity, and it tells a true story straight. In Possum Trot, Texas, Donna Martin loses her mother and comes out of that grief with a calling: kids who have nobody. When an adoption agency tells her how many kids in the foster system need a home, she and her husband, Reverend Martin, turn to their small church and ask families to make room at their tables. Nika King and Demetrius Grosse lead it, with Elizabeth Mitchell as Susan Ramsey. It’s long, and it never complicates its message. Critics went 83% positive on Rotten Tomatoes, and opening crowds gave it a rare A+ CinemaScore, which tells you how hard it lands with the right audience. A 7.1 because the goodness on screen is real, even when the filmmaking is plain. $87.84 says you look up how foster care works in your county by Friday.

What works: The true story is genuinely moving, and audiences answered with a rare A+ CinemaScore, about as clear a signal as moviegoers ever send.

What doesn’t: At 130 minutes it takes its time, and its simple, pure-hearted telling leaves very little room for doubt, conflict or complication.

Who it’s for: Families, church groups and anyone who has ever thought about fostering or adopting and could use a nudge.