I WILL FIND YOU: Episode 1.1

I WILL FIND YOU is a crime thriller starring Sam Worthington streaming on Netflix. Episode 1 follows David Burroughs, a law-professor falsely imprisoned for the murder of his 5-year-old son, Matthew. Five years after David’s imprisonment, his sister-in-law Rachel visits the prison with a photo of a 10-year-old boy who looks exactly like Matthew. The two become convinced that Matthew is still alive, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

After successfully getting ahold of the case file, David must fight to stay alive when a “paper mix-up” lands David in a wrestling match with a dangerous criminal. David and Rachel meet up again, promising to get to the truth and find Matthew, no matter the consequences.

While Rachel starts digging into witness testimonies, David’s life is once again threatened when a dirty cop tries to stab him. When the attempted murder fails, the cop claims the roles were reversed and that David tried to stab him. The Warden, an old friend of David’s father, believes David’s testimony over the officer’s and agrees to help him escape from the prison. The two get caught leaving the prison by the dirty-cop, and David’s is forced to take the Warden hostage in order to escape and find his son.

I WILL FIND YOU is beautifully written and performed. Sam Worthington’s performance is heart-wrenching as he deals with Matthew’s death, his false conviction, and the guilt of not being able to protect his son. The supporting cast also does an incredible job as they wrestle with David’s supposed guilt, while wanting to believe he’s innocent and Matthew’s still alive.

I WILL FIND YOU has a strong moral worldview. It stresses family values, friendship, self-control, and the inherent sanctity of human life. For example, David talks about his duties as a father and shows a clear, deep love for his son. The Warden displays incredible friendship when he visits David’s family and strives to protect David in prison. David exhibits self-control while being threatened by a dangerous criminal. He refuses to throw the first punch and doesn’t fight back until after being attacked.

Finally, the first episode of I WILL FIND YOU shows the sanctity of life throughout its running time. At one point, the Warden says taking a life destroys a person and leads them down the road of insanity. Also, David’s ex-wife, Cheryl, has remarried and is pregnant with a baby girl. Even though losing her son destroyed her, she sees the new baby as a gift and is excited to start over with her new husband.

However, the first episode of I WILL FIND YOU has some strong immoral content. A key witness in David’s case gives false testimony to send David to prison, a dirty-cop lies to the Warden to have David locked in solitary confinement, and the Warden lies to an officer to help David escape. On that same note, the characters are willing to break the law to help David find Matthew, rather than going through the proper authorities. Also, an insane and dangerous criminal taunts David about his son’s murder and eventually tries to kill him. Finally, descriptive explanations of Matthew’s alleged murder may be disturbing to some viewers. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.