October Baby (2011) on Netflix
Hannah, a college freshman, collapses during her theatrical debut. She learns she was adopted after a failed abortion and turns to her friend Jason for answers about her birth mother.
- Netflix4.1/5
- IMDb6.6/108,134 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes25%
Trailer
Plot summary
Hannah is nineteen and in her first year of college, living with epilepsy, asthma and depression. During her theatrical debut she collapses in front of the audience. Medical tests point to her difficult birth, and her parents, Jacob and Grace Lawson, tell her the truth they have kept: she was adopted, and her biological mother tried to end the pregnancy. Hannah turns to Jason, her oldest friend, for advice. He invites her on a spring break trip with his friends to New Orleans, and she decides to search for her birth mother on the way. Jacob is uneasy about the journey because of her health; Hannah tells him she wants answers.
Cast
- Amisho Lewisas Drama Coach
- Mary Tolleyas Julia Armen (as Mary Wheeler)
- Rhett Hendrixas Library Guy
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about October Baby (2011)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Director Jon Erwin said that prior to making the film he "never knew there was such a thing as an abortion survivor", and that he decided to make it after Christian filmmaker Alex Kendrick challenged him with the question: "What is your purpose?"
- October Baby was inspired by a YouTube video chronicling the life experiences of Gianna Jessen, who was born after a failed abortion attempt.
- One reason a limited release was favored over a wide release was to highlight an upcoming ballot initiative, Measure 25, a Mississippi personhood amendment to determine if life begins at conception; the initiative failed.
- The A.V. Club put October Baby on its worst films of 2012 list, explaining that "what makes the film so insidious and upsetting is the way in which it's understood that the reluctant birth mother deserves what she gets".
- The U.S. national release was scheduled for March 23, 2012 in approximately 360 theaters, going head to head with The Hunger Games, which was expected to release at the same time on ten times as many screens.
- The film won the Grand Jury Prize as the Best Fiction Feature at the 2011 Red Rock Film Festival, where Rachel Hendrix also won the Special Achievement Award for Acting.
