The Healer

— “The Healer” popped up on Netflix a few weeks ago, three years after its theatrical release. I don’t imagine many people saw it three years ago but, during a time when so many of us are staying at home, I bet I'm not the only one who fell for it sometime in the past month. It’s the story of an electronics repairman whose gambling debt had caught up with him when an unknown uncle enters his life and offers to pay off the debt if he’ll move from England to Nova Scotia. There he discovers every other generation in his family produces someone who can heal the sick, and he's that person for his generation. The film is as enjoyable as many made-for-TV films, except for an occasional, uncomfortable, faith-based feeling to it. At the end of the film, the scales tip too heavily toward declaring God’s hand in healing, not necessarily a bad thing, but in this case about as subtle as product placement, not a good vehicle for God's message in my opinion. [Netflix streaming.]

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[2016. 113 min. Written and directed by Paco Arango. Starring Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Jonathan Pryce, and Camilla Luddington.]
https://hope1032.com.au/stories/culture/movie-reviews/2020/the-healer-makes-us-wonder-how-wed-handle-jesus-gifts-movie-review/