Ordinary Angels (film)

Ordinary Angels is a 2024 American drama film. Directed by Jon Gunn and written by Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig, it is based on true events that transpired during the 1994 North American cold wave. It stars Hilary Swank, Alan Ritchson, Nancy Travis, and Tamala Jones.

The film was theatrically released by Lionsgate on February 23, 2024. It received positive reviews from critics and has grossed $20 million against a production budget of $12–13 million.

Plot
Set in 1994 in Louisville, Kentucky, hairdresser and co-owner of a successful salon, Sharon Stevens, finds purpose after reading about five-year-old Michelle Schmitt. The little girl has just lost her mother and needs a liver transplant as she suffers from biliary atresia. Sharon goes to the funeral, introduces herself to the family and offers her help.

The previous night Sharon had been out partying and drinking. Her friend and co-owner of the salon Rose, concerned with her over-indulgences, forces her to go to an AA meeting. There, Sharon does not admit to her drinking problem. Afterwards, she sees the headline about the Schmitts.

The next time she's in the salon, Sharon tells Rose she sees this as an opportunity to help and to give herself a sense of purpose. She has a 24hr hair-a-thon to rally the community to help the widowed father Ed pay off their health-related debt.

Ed comes home with only part of what his mother Barbara asked for from the supermarket. They talk privately, and he comes clean about his massive debt. Sharon arrives with over $3,000 made for them, which is in fact half of what Michelle's last transfusion cost. Invited to dinner by Barbara, she gets to know them a bit better.

After Sharon discovers just how much money is owed to the hospital, $400,000, the fiercely determined woman marches back to the Schmitts and insists Ed show her his finances. She sets her mind to helping the family, although Ed is uncomfortable with the help.

Sharon accompanies Ed to a meeting where they convince a company rebuilding after a tornado to give him 50 reroofing jobs. As he's working non-stop roofing, she's beating the street seeking donations from businesses. When Ed arrives home, he finds Barbara with a twisted ankle and Sharon applying makeup on the girls.

Motivated from the contact with the girls, Sharon hunts down her now-adult, estranged son Derek. She regularly tries to reestablish a relationship, but he's openly hostile to the idea.

As Ed had to rush Michelle to the hospital during the night, and Barbara still can't drive, he asks Sharon to give the girls a ride. That evening she coerces him to take them all roller-skating. Later on, we discover it's Derek's birthday and she took them in his honor.

Sharon meets with the hospital to erase Ed's debt. Michelle vomits blood, so the doctor tells them she has four to six weeks. Now at the top of the liver donation list, she needs access to a plane to fly her to Omaha. As usual, Sharon uses her charm skills to secure a few.

After Sharon gets a TV news crew to come to Ed's to get more funding for Michelle, he throws them out as he's a private person. That evening, Barbara leaves her in charge while she goes home. Ed arrives home to a panicked daughter who fears she's dead. He quickly ascertains that Sharon is blind drunk. Ed asks her to not come back.

Christmas comes and goes. Sharon finally quits drinking, starts going to AA and leaves Derek a goodbye message of love. A story on Michelle seeking donations finally is broadcast on local news. Louisville is hit by a major snowstorm from the 1994 North American cold wave in mid January. A liver becomes available, but Michelle has to be in Omaha in 6 hours.

Although the airport is closed, Sharon convinces them to clear a strip, then finds a pilot willing to weather the storm. Meanwhile, Ed plans a route to arrive to the airport 30+ miles away, seeking the roads that haven't been closed and heads out with Michelle. They eventually come across a fallen tree blocking the road. Ed uses a roadside emergency phone to give up the liver, but just in time a pickup arrives to tell him the alternate plan.

The news program asks for a helicopter pilot, so a Vietnam War veteran volunteers. The town comes together to clear a space and mark it so the helicopter can land. Derek comes to help and reconciles with Sharon.

The operation was paid for through donations and was a success. Michelle Schmitt would go on to get a college degree and get married a year later.

Production
Dave Matthews pitched the story to Jon Berg who brought the story to Lionsgate who brought it to Kevin Downes and the team at Kingdom Story Company. In March 2022, the film was officially announced with Swank and Ritchson starring, with Jon Gunn directing and writing the most recent draft of the script with Jon Erwin. Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig contributed an earlier draft and received writing credit. Filming occurred in Winnipeg in April 2022 and Albany, New York, in June 2022.

Release
Ordinary Angels was released theatrically by Lionsgate on February 23, 2024, and on-demand on March 26, 2024. The film was originally scheduled to be released on October 13, 2023, before the date was delayed to avoid competition with the concert film, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. Shortly after, Sony Pictures Releasing International acquired some international distribution rights under the Stage 6 Films label. It was released in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2024.

Box office
In the United States and Canada, Ordinary Angels was released alongside Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training and Drive-Away Dolls, and was projected to gross $5–7 million from 2,800 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $6.5 million, finishing third at the box office. The film made $3.9 million in its second weekend (a drop of just 38%), finishing third.

Critical response
Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a rare grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.

Courtney Howard of Variety wrote, "In Swank's capable hands, the character's predictable arc is made formidable, conjuring sympathy and strength in spades. Plus, she brings a naturalism to the scenes shared with Mitchell and Hughes, rising stars in their own right, who efficiently deliver precociousness with the right amount of potency".