Higher Ground is a 2011 American drama film directed by Vera Farmiga. The cast of the film consists of Farmiga, Joshua Leonard, Norbert Leo Butz, Dagmara Domińczyk, John Hawkes, Bill Irwin, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Donna Murphy.
Plot[]
In the early Sixties, Corinne Walker is a girl who is skeptical about God. After her brother is stillborn, her parents' marriage disintegrates over the course of several years. As a teenager, she meets Ethan Miller, a budding musician in local rock band The Renegades. The two marry after Corinne gets pregnant and have a daughter, Abigail. While touring with Ethan's band, their bus crashes into a river. Ethan rushes to save Abby, and Corinne pleads with God to save the child. Abby is pulled out of the bus before it sinks into the water, and Ethan believes that God wanted them to live. Ethan and Corinne grow more fond of Jesus, eventually giving themselves over to a radical New Testament church.
As adults, Corinne and Ethan live with their children—Abigail and Lilly—amid a community of self-described "Jesus freaks". Corinne's daily life consists of hours of Bible study and alternative family practices. The husbands are told by Pastor Bill that they should pay more attention to their wives' sexual needs after a fellow husband's indiscretions caused his wife to leave with their children. Corinne's closest friend Annika also warns her about keeping the marriage alive by trying new things, such as drawing their husbands' penises.
One day, Corinne's younger sister, Wendy, shows up on her doorstep after ending yet another bad relationship, and moves in with them. Their father comes over for dinner, and says that children are the most important things in life. He takes responsibility over how losing their baby brother caused him to wreck his marriage. Later, Ethan finds Lilly playing with some cocaine she found in Wendy's suitcase. He and Corinne flush the drugs down the toilet, and Wendy storms off.
As time passes, Corinne gets pregnant again. During a group meeting, Corinne tries to express her thoughts on what they can and cannot see. She gets shut down by Pastor Bill and his wife, because in their doctrine, women are forbidden to preach and cannot teach men. On another occasion, the pastor's wife admonishes Corinne about wearing dresses that could catch the attention of other male members of their community.
Corinne has a boy they name Gabe. Annika is diagnosed with a brain tumor. The community prays for her, and she survives a risky surgery, but suffers brain damage that leaves her confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak. Corinne becomes devastated and questions her faith: she stops attending services, and grows distant from Ethan. During a fight over Gabe's abilities, Ethan loses control and attempts to strangle Corinne. They try to see a couples therapist, Dr. Dick Adams, but his zealotry does not help them reconcile. Corinne leaves Ethan.
She starts exploring non-religious culture, and during one of her visits at the library, befriends an Irish mailman, Liam Donovan, a poetry enthusiast. Over several more casual encounters, they flirt. Liam lends Corinne some books and reads poems to her. During Gabe's seventh birthday party, Corinne's family pushes her to reconcile with Ethan, but she refuses to kiss him. Corinne's mother, who has remarried, is shown accepting her ex-husband's apologies for ruining their marriage, and his renewed affection.
Corinne is conflicted about returning to the church that her children still attend. She enters once while the building is empty, but a dog at the door catches her attention, and she finds herself outside, surrounded by dogs. Later, she sees Liam reading to children at the library, in the company of a woman who seems to be his girlfriend. Corinne attends a service to see Ethan and the children sing. She grabs the microphone and gives a speech in front of the pastor and the entire community, talking about her life experience with faith, her doubts, and what it means to stand on "higher ground".
Cast[]
- Vera Farmiga as Corinne Walker
- Taissa Farmiga as Teenage Corinne Walker
- McKenzie Turner as Young Corinne Walker
- Joshua Leonard as Ethan Miller
- Boyd Holbrook as Teenage Ethan Miller
- Dagmara Domińczyk as Annika
- Norbert Leo Butz as Pastor Bill
- John Hawkes as C.W. Walker
- Bill Irwin as Pastor Bud
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Luke
- Donna Murphy as Kathleen Walker
- Nina Arianda as Wendy Walker
- Kaitlyn Rae King as Teenage Wendy Walker
- Taylor Schwencke as Young Wendy Walker
- Michael Chernus as Ned
- Sean Mahon as Liam Donovan
- Jack Gilpin as Dr. Dick Adams
- Molly Hawkey as Molly
Videos[]
Trailers[]
Higher Ground (2011) Exclusive New HD Trailer
Official Trailer