My heart aches for the homeless.  I pray every day for them, and each one I see on the streets I regret when I have nothing to offer.  There are those who look upon such people and accuse them of being addicted to something or lazy, or both.  Maybe some who are counted among the dispossessed have experienced these things, but such attitudes often come with a dismissal of them as people.  This is not a Christ-like approach to this population.  Then again, there are those who question the efficacy of prayer.  What all this does not do is take into consideration how those going through homelessness feel about their situation.  Today’s film, Tow (2025), takes a look at these factors, and it is a powerful story that I recommend to anyone interested in helping those less fortunate.

The story of Tow debunks one of the aforementioned stereotypes about the unhoused: that they are lazy.  Amanda Ogle (Rose Byrne) is interviewing to be a technician at a veterinary clinic, though not making an impact.  Despite having a certificate giving her the proper qualifications, they want someone with the college education she does not possess.  She voices her displeasure with the denial but leaves.  It is at this point that we see the state of her homelessness, her abode being her 1991 Toyota Camry.  We are also introduced to other aspects of her situation, such as being separated from her daughter, Avery (Elsie Fisher).  Amanda is in Seattle, while Avery resides with her father in Utah.  Later on, we learn that a car accident triggered a series of events that led her to being unhoused, including an opioid addiction and alcohol abuse.  This explains the estrangement, but Amanda is doing everything she can to get back to Avery, keeping in frequent contact with her daughter.  The one thing that Amanda is not revealing is that she is living in her car.  Out of pride, she tells her daughter that she got the job for which she interviewed.  Instead, Amanda keeps applying, eventually convincing a dog grooming salon to hire her.  When she returns to where she parked, she is perturbed to find that Camry is gone.  Immediately, she reports the matter to the police, who, a few days later, call to tell her that the vehicle has been found.  At length, she makes her way to the impound, who charge her for the towing service and the couple days it has been on their lot.  Because she does not have the nearly $300 they demand, she is forced to spend time on the streets.  Her beseeching of the attendant, Cliff (Simon Rex), is met with sympathy, but he admits to being powerless to doing anything to help her.  She does get some assistance when she is admitted to a homeless shelter.  It is not said directly, but the facility is a Catholic one, which warmed my heart.  The person in charge, Barb (Octavia Spencer), indicates that they have to work around the Mass schedule, among other hints.  She is also a stickler for the rules that govern how people under their care behave, such as no alcohol or drugs, and there are strict consequences if these are violated.  For the moment, Amanda agrees to these terms as she works on figuring out how to get her car.  Her initial dealings with the court puts her in contact with Kevin Eggers (Dominic Sessa), a lawyer working for a non-profit organization that combats corporate malpractice.  Due to his age and her suspicion of anyone offering any kind of assistance, she turns down his suggestion that he look into her case.  Initially, it seems like she does not need him.  Getting the desired hearing before a judge, she is able to sway the court’s opinion and get an order for the release of her vehicle.  Yet, when she takes the document to Cliff, he tells her that the Camry has been sold.  The news leads to her doing something she had not done in a while: drink, which also comes with her being kicked out of the shelter.  After a few days of sleeping on sidewalks, she goes to Kevin’s office and convinces him to take on her case.  His first move is to get her back into the shelter, though Barb is clear that any further infractions will not be tolerated.  From here, it becomes a matter of waiting, which is exasperated by the towing company’s legal counsel, Martin La Rosa (Corben Bernsen).  Martin is using every dirty legal trick he knows, including delaying or not showing up for hearings, which drags the matter on further.  At one point, the company changes names, which protracts the proceedings.  Though it is already difficult for Amanda to remain patient, she continues to work with Kevin in researching the matter while also beginning to open up about her addiction at the shelter.  It is made harder by the fact that she first misses Christmas with Avery, and then the teenager discovers that Amanda had been lying about her employment status.  Because of this, any welcome news is good, even though it comes with further setbacks.  At one point, the company agrees to release the car, but adds up all the fines for it being kept in limbo for so long, with fees amounting to over $21,000.  Eventually, Amanda gets her day in court, and her pleas of just wanting her Camry and nothing else sways the judge to rule once more in her favor.  It also helps that the company had been in contempt of the earlier verdict.  With this, the final scene shows her and Kevin going to get her car, though they must first deal with a dead battery.

It is fitting that the last thing Amanda must deal with in Tow is a dead battery.  After all, the car had been sitting idle for over a year.  All the same, it is heartwarming that it should have a happy conclusion, and I appreciated that we see the real-life people on which this story is based.  With all this goodness, I actually got more from a Catholic perspective from Barb.  Much of what she has to say to Amanda and others living at the shelter is Christian in nature.  Though this might sound harsh, my favorite is when Barb tells Amanda that the recovering addict is not special.  Put differently, addicts tend to believe that their situation is unique, which only serves to put the weight of the world on them and exacerbate their addiction.  As so often happens, people dealing with such demons have to reach their lowest point in order to begin changing, and Amanda is no different.  There are many Scriptural references that speak to a person reaching that proverbial “rock bottom,” and among the more popular ones is the proverb of the Prodigal Son, Luke 15:11-32.  While it is a great one for such situations, the one I will be discussing is Psalm 34:19, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, saves those whose spirit is crushed.”  Even though the Prodigal Son finds himself in a terrible predicament, he still has his father to return to when he finally accepts his folly.  Amanda, like many homeless, does not have that option.  Additionally, she has lost everything.  While it is true that to turn things around, she must accept her powerlessness (as we all must do in the eyes of God), her situation resonates more with Psalm 34:19.  It takes acknowledging that we cannot do everything on our own to make real changes.  Despite Faith not being a component of her story, it is how Amanda turns around her life.

I enjoy stories like Tow that are about people turning around their lives.  This one is no different, and it gets a full recommendation from me.  Hopefully it will also change how you think about those who struggle with homelessness.