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GIMME SHELTER

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What You Need To Know:

GIMME SHELTER is a realistic, powerful drama about a pregnant teenager from a mixed race background. Agnes flees her abusive, deranged mother. She finds her upper middle class stockbroker father, who abandoned her African American mother right after getting her pregnant. The father and his wife realize she’s pregnant and take her for an abortion. Clutching the ultrasound pictures of her baby in the womb, Agnes flees the abortion clinic. She finds shelter in a Catholic home for unwed mothers. How can Agnes transcend her brutal, heartless, destructive past, and fight for the future of her baby, Hope?

Based on a true story, GIMME SHELTER is a very realistic. Surprisingly, it doesn’t have many obscenities, but it does have some intense moments of violence. God’s love is shown in many different ways. The Bible is quoted, and church is uplifted. Sadly, however, Agnes doesn’t find a way to reconcile with her mother and father. The movie still captures your heart. GIMME SHELTER isn’t for children, but it might serve as a good witness and good entertainment for teenagers and up.

Content:

(CCC, BBB, L, VV, S, A, DD, M) Very strong Christian, biblical, moral worldview about a young inner city teenage girl who gets pregnant and fights to keep her child and is transformed by a Catholic home for unwed mothers, with very clear presentation of God’s love, commendation of the Bible, and strong character arc from lost girl to a loving mother; six obscenities (some hard to hear); strong violence with drug addict, prostitute mother slamming daughter into Coca-Cola machine, trying to beat her up, trying to kill her with a razor blade and girl taking truck from a man who was clearly about to proposition her and wrecking it because she doesn’t know how to survive, and threats of violence, plus a childbirth scene; implied prostitution and discussions of sex but nothing shown but the discussions are more intense than you would find in a TV movie; no nudity but some very skimpy dresses; alcohol use implied; drug use implied; and, girl rejects offers of help from father who had ignored her for many years in favor of the Catholic home for unwed mothers, so the parents are both rejected, which somewhat denies God’s appointment of parents as the primary caregivers for their children and strangers become her family, not parents.

More Detail:

GIMME SHELTER starts off in a very slummy, rundown section of Brooklyn. A mulatto girl named Agnes violently cuts off most of her own hair. She goes to a phone booth in the apartment building, and her mother violently attacks her to keep her from running away from home. The taxi driver won’t driver her to New Jersey because she has no money. In a moment of desperation, she says, “Help me, God.”

Agnes finds her upper middle class stockbroker father, who abandoned her African American mother right after the pregnancy, living in a beautiful home with a beautiful family. The father, Tom, and his wife, Joanna, realize she’s pregnant and take her for an abortion. Clutching the ultrasound pictures of her baby in the womb, Agnes flees the abortion clinic. A limo driver tries to pick her up to molest her, but she fights back, kicks him out and steals his limousine and, not knowing how to drive, crashes it.

In the hospital, a priest named Frank tries to minister to Agnes. He says the police have dropped the charges against her because the man was clearly trying to rape her. Frank talks Agnes into going to a home for unwed mothers run by a woman named Kathy who worked for Mother Theresa.

Each woman in the home has their own problems. Life is not simple for Agnes, who calls herself Apple. Her mother, Jean, wants Agnes to come home so she can get the welfare money for Agnes and her child. She goes to her; and, when resists, tries to kill her with a razor blade in the middle of the church. Her father offers to take in Agnes and her baby.

How can Agnes transcend a brutal, heartless, destructive past? How can she fight for the future of her baby, Hope.

Based on a true story, GIMME SHELTER is a very realistic movie. Surprisingly, it doesn’t have many obscenities, but it does have some intense moments of violence. God’s love is shown in many different ways. The Bible is quoted, and church is uplifted. It’s regrettable that Agnes/Apple can’t reconcile with her deranged mother, who is so disturbed by her pregnancy that she gave her life to a life of prostitution. It’s also sad that Agnes/Apple won’t let her wealth father Tom give her shelter. She finds a non-traditional family in the Catholic home for unwed mothers, run by the caring but tough-minded Kathy.

Overall, the acting in GIMME SHELTER is very good and highly realistic. The filmmaking is superior. There are one or two moments where the facts get in the way of the drama. The movie still captures your heart.

GIMME SHELTER isn’t for children, but it might serve as a good witness and good entertainment for teenagers and up.

Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.