Redeeming Love is a faithful adaptation of the 1991 best-selling Gold Rush romance novel by Francine Rivers. The book retells the Biblical story of the prophet Hosea, adapting it for the California Gold Rush in the 1850s. The film was directed by D.J. Caruso (The Disappointments Room, XXX: Return of Xander Cage) and has a more erotic nature, compared to other films in the Christian romance genre. It’s certainly not like any other God-fearing redemption tale you have seen before.
Angel, a twenty-three-year-old woman (played by Abigail Cowen) is the highest-priced prostitute, and the object of men’s lust in a brothel called Pair-A-Dice in a small mining town. The Pair-A-Dice’s manager, who goes by the name Duchess (Famke Janssen), holds a lottery for men who’d like to get a chance to be with her. The hero of the story, and Angel’s love interest, Michael (Tom Lewis) is a mid-twenties farmer who is devoted to his Christian faith, and just like Hosea in the Bible, Michael believes God wants him to marry the prostitute and save her, as he feels she’s destined to become his wife. At first, Michael struggles to convince Angel because she is cynical and broken from her tortured life, which is rife with sexual abuse. It’s only after Angel is battered by Duchess’ henchman Magowan (played by South African actor Brandon Auret) that she accepts Michael’s marriage proposal. Michael takes her back home to his farm, where he plans to turn her into a righteous woman, while he gives her time to recover from her past trauma and injuries.
Angel’s birth name is Sarah Stafford, and the movie flashes back to 1835, when Sarah (played by Livi Birch) was an eight-year-old living with her single mother. These flashbacks of Angel’s childhood show us that her mother, Mae (Nina Dobrev), was abused and had to resort to prostitution before her death, leaving Angel to be sold into prostitution and raised by Duke (Eric Dane), an amoral gangster that runs brothels.
Director D.J. Caruso wrote the script, based on the book by Francine Rivers, the original author of the Christian-themed novel. Caruso captures the feeling of a hybrid Western, shooting the film on location in South Africa. The movie has a larger production value than other movies in the faith-based romance genre. The production design, cinematography and costuming are all high-gloss.
Redeeming Love boasts an impressive and talented cast that will most likely be familiar to audiences. Tom Lewis (Gentleman Jack) as Michael, Abigail Cowen (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Stranger Things) as Angel, Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus, Upgrade) as Paul, Famke Janssen (X-Men, The Wolverine) as Duchess, Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries, The Final Girls) as Mae, Eric Dane (Grey’s Anatomy, Euphoria) as Duke, and Brandon Auret (District 9, Chappie) as Magowan.
It might be surprising to some that the movie is only rated PG-13 – this is because there’s no nudity in the movie, and the sex scenes are delicately filmed. Redeeming Love will be embraced by the faithful for its message about love and forgiveness, what it takes to deserve a second chance, and the healing power of love. The universal theme is that loves conquers all.
The film offers a fresh perspective on a brutal story, dealing with sex trafficking in the 19th century. The subject matter is complex and deep, but director D.J. Caruso blends elegant, soft-focus cinematography and lavish production design to make a sweeping love story epic that proves to be a seductive movie experience.
