
Free in Deed. 2015. USA/New Zealand. Directed by Jake Mahaffy. 98 min.
A crisis of faith unfolds with brutal intensity in Jake Mahaffy’s Venice Film Festival award-winner Free in Deed. Based on an actual incident, this Tennessee-shot tale of an isolated Pentecostal minister’s misguided attempt to “heal” a violent, disturbed child is both visceral and philosophical in its meditation on agency, suffering, and the role of religion in our social fabric. Both David Harewood, as the minister, and Edwina Findlay, as the child’s mother, give heartbreakingly unforgettable performances.