The Old Testament tells of a practice among the ancient Hebrews where, if a husband dies before his wife, that man’s brother will take his place.  You can find the custom described in greater detail in Deuteronomy 25:5-10.  The point was to raise children so that the family line did not end.  Because Christianity fulfilled the former law, Christians are not asked to perform a similar duty.  Yet, this is kind of what happens in Reminders of Him.  Today’s society might have qualms about it, unless the situation absolutely warrants it.  This film falls more on the latter side of that divide, but read on to be the judge.  My only complaint is that it lags a bit in the middle, but otherwise it is a sweet story.

Things do not look sweet for Kenna Rowan (Maika Monroe) at the beginning of Reminders of Him.  She has just been let out of prison and she is returning to Laramie, Wyoming, with little more than her notebooks and the clothing on her back.  The reason for this predicament is told is spurts throughout the rest of the movie, but that will not do for our purposes.  Instead, I will streamline things here.  About seven years ago, she met Scott Landry (Rudy Pankow).  He comes into the Dollar store where Kenna works, thinks she is beautiful, and buys individual plates until she agrees to go out with him.  There follows a torrid romance despite him initially driving the beat up old, orange pickup truck belonging to his best friend and National Football League (NFL) star, Ledger Ward (Tyriq Withers).  The vehicle is important because during one of Kenna and Scott’s excursions, this time in her car, there is an accident.  They had taken an edible together and are therefore under the influence.  At any rate, the sport utility vehicle (SUV) flips and he dies as a result.  Because she had fled the scene, though in an unsuccessful attempt to find help, she had been found to be criminally negligent and sentenced to seven years behind bars.  Further, she had been pregnant at the time of the sentencing, giving birth to a baby girl she names Diem (Zoe Kosovic).  As Kenna serves time, Diem is placed in the care of Scott’s parents, Grace (Lauren Graham) and Patrick Landry (Bradley Whitford), who blame Kenna entirely for their son’s death.  Hence, Kenna’s goal in coming to Laramie is to be close to Diem, establish something of a living for herself, and hopefully convince the Landrys that she is reformed.  It is an uphill battle, and obtaining employment proves to be seemingly impossible with Kenna’s recent background and the lack of basic necessities like a phone.  On that first day of nothing but rejection, she seeks refuge in a bookstore she used to frequent with Scott.  Instead, she finds a bar and grill owned by Ledger.  The two do not recognize one another and he begins to flirt with her.  However, when she learns his name, she retreats without any explanation.  It does not take long for him to figure out who she is, and he is not happy about her presence.  Part of his anger is owed to the fact that he lives in the house he grew up in across the street from the Landrys.  The proximity means that he has become a surrogate father to Diem, and the two spend time together every day.  As for Kenna, she is finally able to find some work, if part-time, bagging groceries at a local supermarket.  Once she has that and an apartment, no matter how shabby, she finally works up the courage to try to visit Diem.  Ledger spots Kenna before the Landrys do, and he forces her to come with him instead of seeing them.  Over the next few weeks, though he still tries to keep her away from her daughter and Diem’s grandparents, Kenna and Ledger begin to spend an increasing amount of time together.  It starts with Ledger offering Kenna rides home after seeing that she is forced to walk everywhere.  In also witnessing her mean state, he eventually gives her a part time job washing dishes at the bar.  It is clear that there is an attraction between the two, but the first time they give in to it they realize how much it would complicate their lives by giving into their passions.  For a moment, this Catholic rejoiced at their desire to remain chaste, but this celebration was short lived.  As they grow closer to one another, the danger of the Landrys learning of Kenna’s presence increases.  It nearly comes to light one night at the bar when Grace and Patrick stop at the bar for a drink.  Before Kenna can be spotted, she runs back to her apartment.  Ledger soon joins her there, and this is when their relationship finally turns physical.  On another date, this time at the house he has been building for himself in the mountains, he asks her to recount what had happened that night with Scott.  As she concludes the tale enumerated above, Patrick stops at the unfinished mansion on the pretext of obtaining something Ledger had borrowed.  Patrick discovers the star-crossed lovers in a compromising position and feels betrayed.  Ledger tries to explain his feelings, and how he believes Kenna is not the person they thought, and receives a black eye and fat lip for his efforts courtesy of Patrick.  Ledger goes to Kenna, and it is clear what has happened.  She feels like she cannot stay and packs her few belongings to leave.  He goes first, taking with him one of her notebooks.  It is the one in which she has written a letter explaining everything and seeking forgiveness.  Ledger asks that the Landrys read it.  It is Grace that agrees to do so, and she comes to Kenna’s apartment with an invitation to meet Diem.  Kenna comes for dinner, with Ledger joining them.  The final scene is of our new family replacing the roadside marker to memorialize Scott that Kenna had yanked out of the ground at the start of the film.

Like most such markers, the memorial we see at the start and conclusion of Reminders of Him comes in the form of a Christian cross.  It is interesting that such a symbol is used is either context.  Since it was an instrument of torture for Jesus, one can see it as being related to sadness.  If you read accounts of the Passion, you cannot help but notice that there are many who are sorrowful to witness the suffering of Our Lord and Savior.  Mary wept at the foot of the Cross, and there are women of Jerusalem who cried along the route to Calvary.  To be sure, there are many tearful scenes in the movie.  A mother is simply trying to reunite with her daughter.  I would hope that most of us could have some sympathy for Kenna.  What concerns me most here is the theming, and in this sense, it all fits.  At the same time, Jesus’ death on the Cross is also a symbol of triumph.  Without it, He could not have affected the ultimate miracle of rising from the grave.  Doing so not only granted us the path to eternal life, but acted as an oblation for our sins.  We see this aspect of the story in the movie as well.  There is a telling moment when Kenna is revealing the events of that fateful night to Ledger when she talks about having wanted a stricter sentence for herself.  In other words, she desired to be punished, which the Landrys took as a lack of remorse on her part.  It is always remarkable what forgiveness can do.  With Grace inviting Kenna over, it is the tonic needed to lift the veil of a mother’s hurt.  Therefore, replacing the memorial at the end is a sign of triumph rather than pain.

It is how long that Kenna sits with that pain in Reminders of Him which causes me to say that the story lags a little in the middle.  Will Kenna get to see Diem or not?  When will Kenna and Ledger finally give into their passion for one another?  To the shockingly large crowd gathered in the cinema on a Thursday night for this movie, this must have been as inevitable to them as it was to me.  What these and other decisions point to is the idea of unintended consequences.  In the moment, which is when sin most often happens, we believe that we can do something seemingly innocent like taking an edible.  One wrong turn of the wheel, though, and there are years of pain and suffering for not just Kenna, but others as well.  You might argue that I am being too hard on Kenna for labeling her actions a sin, and that may be.  What cannot be argued are the results.  Nothing we do ever happens in a vacuum.  Somebody is always affected.  Even the most obscure of sins can reflect on us.  It is one of the reasons why I go to weekly Confession lest I allows these infractions, no matter their size, to build up and potentially to further damage to my soul.  It is not easy, either.  Who knows?  Maybe if they had not microdosed before driving, something else would have befallen them and Scott would still be dead.  What I am trying to impress here is that we need to be careful with our souls.  They are more precious than we can imagine, and it can sometimes take a long time to mend them as we see in the movie.

I am also borderline as to whether I think you should see Reminders of Him.  It is a sad movie for much of its run time, and my heart broke to witness Kenna’s struggles.  At the same time, it has a happy ending.  The material in between is pretty solid except for a few racy moments.  As such, my feelings are mixed.