Pure Flix’s HOMESCHOOLED Offers a Few Genuine Moments
By Movieguide® Contributor
HOME-SCHOOLED is a series produced by, written by, directed by, and starring Audrey Cornett and is available on Pure Flix. Hannah Meeks is a young businesswoman whose father and stepmother die and who discovers they charged her with the care of her younger step-siblings. Hannah has to decide whether to accept this guardianship and how to care for her brothers and sisters.
Hannah will get money if she accepts the guardianship. However, Hannah isn’t motivated by money. She just wants to have her own life. The parents wanted the kids to be homeschooled, so Hannah has even more responsibility than she thought. As the kids get into some basic slice-of-life-style troubles, the tension between Hannah and her boyfriend from work grows over the possibility of keeping the kids. Prue, the oldest, constantly accuses Hannah of being ready to leave them. If Hannah does not accept the request, the kids worry that they will be split up because there are five of them.
Will Hannah decide to fulfill the role of mom and older sister? Will the kids win her over–and how?
The show has a Christian and Biblical worldview. Characters attend church and a funeral reception. They deal with the theme of choosing joy even in the midst of mourning the death of a loved one, although the way the characters express sorrow doesn’t feel genuine enough. There is talk about God and scripture, and main characters lift up their hearts to God.
The amount of negative content is infrequent. Existing language includes “sucks” and “for the love of Pete.” There is an obscenity that’s cut away from. Characters discuss swearing in the second season. Violent behavior includes petty fighting, including a food fight and two kids fighting over a pair of boots.
Also, there is on-screen vomiting (not in view). There is a scene where someone hides in a bathroom, but no nudity. One character flirts in a taunting way with a boy, and his girlfriend gawks at the boy for an unnaturally long time. Miscellaneous immorality includes throwing and wasting food, lying, and stealing. One girl steals, though it is resolved. The kids enter a place that is off-limits due to COVID.
The writing, the acting, and the production quality are beginner-level. Some of the writing speaks to the heart, but there are weird story transitions from one scene or episode to the next. Some of the dialogue is awkward even as the actors perform it. Characters’ reactions often feel written rather than deeply motivated. The story shows adventures of a Christian homeschool family.
The feel that they are homeschooled does come out, but again, some of the acting and some of the situations leave a lot to be desired. The acting, the camera work, and the writing generally miss out on achieving much past the fundamental principles of their craft, and sometimes not even that. Consequently, the Christian messages of the show generally come across rather poorly.
However, a few genuine moments shine with cinematography, writing, and acting. In these scenes, the emotion genuinely comes through and the story becomes more effective. When Prue finds out her boyfriend is breaking up with her and when Prue tells her Sunday school class how
she is feeling, the cinematography and acting is particularly effective. Some of the other moments that feel genuine are when Charity Meeks dances for her dead parents and when the brothers and sisters all snuggle in bed together.
Although this is not a high-quality show, it is a low-budget project that was probably a greatly helpful learning experience for its creators in how to experiment with filmmaking. There are parts where the story gains potency, and some of it is heartwarming. Additionally, this show is on a platform that does not target a mainly non-Christian audience or people who might just take this show as an excuse to bash Christianity. For these reasons, this show being distributed does little harm. Unless, of course, one pretends to kids that this is the peak of Christian-influenced media. Movieguide recommends that discernment is required for younger children.
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