“Soul Surfer” Movie Review

Back when I was twelve-years-old, a nice boy from my grade 5 class asked me if I would like to go see a movie with him. Not realizing he was asking me on a date at the time, I said yes- because who doesn’t love going to the movie theatre?

So we went to the movies. Our parents both came as our chaperones, and my young and naive self just thought that they wanted to see the movie too.

I remember sitting there, watching, and I was so enthralled by the movie and its story that I actually got annoyed with the boy who took me to the movies for trying to hold my hand because it was distracting me. If you couldn’t tell up to this point, I made a horrible date and a better friend, which is how it ended up working out anyways.

So what was this movie that had a twelve-year-old fixated on the screen and not the boy who took her to the theatres? Well that, my friend, is the movie Soul Surfer.

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Soul Surfer, is a movie based on the real-life story of Bethany Hamilton who turned a tragic event into a heart-warming and fulfilling tale. The movie follows the young teenager’s passion for surfing and her desire to be in the water at all times- painting a clear depiction that surfing is the centre of her world.

After deciding to go surfing with her family one day, Bethany is attacked by a shark and loses one of her arms- a vital tool in surfing successfully. Surviving the attack, Bethany is faced with the new challenges of learning how to go about her daily activities with one arm and eventually extends her knowledge of faith in herself and her religion into helping other people who are faced with their own difficulties.

“I’ve had the chance to embrace more people with one arm than I ever could with two” – Bethany Hamilton, Soul Surfer.

First and foremost, I think this movie stuck out to me because of how close Bethany and I were in age at the time I watched the film. She seemed to be so much more mature and brilliant than I was, and I truly admire that about her character.

The second reason that the movie had my attention was the bravery and determination that is shown by Bethany from the moment of the shark attack, right up until the end of the movie. The story is a rollercoaster of all of the emotions and experiences that she went through following the attack. It shows both her tribulations and her triumphs in transforming her new disability into an ability. She turned her tragic experience into one that she can use to motivate and help others.

I have watched this movie a handful of times since, as I still find myself inspired by her compassion towards herself and how it reflects onto others. It remains in my rotation of feel-good movies and I believe it will remain in that rotation for a very long time. I think it would be a great addition to yours.

Overall, I would highly recommend this movie and rate it 5 out of 5 stars.

Submitted by: Sierra Schmidt, WLU Student Blogger