Pearl Diver

Here's a rare treat: Pearl Diver is a film festival favorite that tells the intriguing tale of two sisters, Hannah (Joey Honsa) and Marian (Amy Jean Johnson), driven apart in the aftermath of the murder of their mother 20 years earlier, who are brought together when a farming accident threatens to take another family member's life. Written and directed by first-time filmmaker Sidney King, Pearl Diver is definitely low-budget, but that doesn't stop it from making an extraordinary connection with viewers as it interweaves scenes from the past with action in the present that follows the two sisters' response to the accident—Hannah, a writer from Chicago, and Marian and her husband, local farmers who are utterly unwilling to fight a wrong they've suffered, even though it would benefit their injured child. So many films designed to appeal to the “faith and values” audience (while not overtly religious, this film does focus on a Mennonite family) wind up being smugly exclusionary, accepting only one narrow set of ethical responses as valid. Pearl Diver doesn't pretend to have definitive answers to great moral dilemmas—just for these particular individuals in their unique situation. Highly recommended. [DVD extras include deleted scenes. Bottom line: a small extras package for a small but winning film.] (M. Johanson)