racism – The Lowedown

Sarah’s Oil – a Kingdom Story Movie
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Last night, my wife and I attended a pre-screening for a new movie, Sarah’s Oil, that will release in theaters on November 7th.

The movie is inspired by the true life story of Sarah Rector, a young African-American girl living in rural Oklahoma in the early 1900s, who received a grant of 160 acres of land as a reparation payment because her ancestors had been enslaved by a local native tribe.

Because most of the people who received such land grants could not afford the yearly property tax fee, they sold their land to avoid losing it outright.

Sarah believed that her land had oil on it so instead of selling and making a small profit, which certainly would have been a lot of money to her family at the time, she was determined to keep her land and realize its full potential.

The movie centers around the struggle to keep her land from a greedy and unscrupulous oil company that threatens her at every turn. But it’s more than just a story of good vs. evil. The story explores themes of racism, justice, greed, forgiveness and perseverance.

The plot is engaging and the acting is professional. It has moments of tension, heartache and suspense, as well as the occasional comedic relief line.

This movie is the latest entry by Kingdom Story, a faith-based production company that’s responsible for movies like, “I Can Only Imagine”, “American Underdog” and “Jesus Revolution”.

Zachary Levi, who has appeared in a number of Kingdom Story movies, is excellent as B.B. “Bert” Smith, Sarah’s wildcat business partner who helps her in her quest to find oil on her land, while Naya Desir-Johnson gives a standout performance as the young Sarah Rector.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film and would highly recommend it to moviegoers. This movie is inspiring. You’ll laugh, cry, shake your fist and cheer at different points in the movie.

Ultimately, this movie feels like a throwback to the way movies used to be made. A lot of what gets churned out in Hollywood these days feels like recycled, uninspired junk, but this movie is clean, well-produced and is rich with positive moral themes. It’s a movie you can take your kids to see and have a meaningful discussion about afterwards.

I’m not a movie critic per se and I don’t write a lot of movie reviews. But this is a movie that I can heartily endorse and I encourage all to see this movie when it hits the theaters.

You may know that movies can have a short life-span in the theaters, based on how well they do initially. This is a movie, and Kingdom Story is a company, that deserves your support. Kingdom Story continues to produce high quality, faith and family-oriented films that not only entertain, but inspire.

Watch the trailer for Sarah’s Oil: