''The Miracle Season'' is a 2018 American

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Sean McNamara and starring Erin Moriarty, Helen Hunt,

William Hurt William McChord Hurt (March 20, 1950 – March 13, 2022) was an American actor. Known for his performances on stage and screen, he received various awards including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor. H ...

, and

Danika Yarosh Danika Yarosh (born October 1, 1998) is an American actress. She appeared in the Showtime series '' Shameless'' and in the NBC series '' Heroes Reborn''. She co‐starred with Tom Cruise in '' Jack Reacher: Never Go Back'' (2016). Early life Ya ...

. The film is based on the true story of the

Iowa City West High School Iowa City West High School is a public high school in Iowa City, Iowa. It serves grades 9-12 for the Iowa City Community School District. Athletics The Trojans compete in the Mississippi Valley Conference in the following sports: *Cross Cou ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

team after the sudden death of the team's heart and leader, Caroline Found, in 2011. It was released in the United States on April 6, 2018. The film received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $10 million worldwide.

Plot

Caroline "Line" Found is the star volleyball player on the Iowa City West High School volleyball team and well-loved by members of the community. With Line as the captain, the Trojans have been undefeated and everyone in the city has high hopes for them to win the championship against their long-time rival, City High. During a party at her house, Line sneaks off to visit her mother Ellyn who is being treated for

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

in hospital. Line is killed in a

moped A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. The term used to mean a similar vehicle except with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds typ ...

accident, leaving the entire community in mourning. At Line's wake, Ellyn insists on walking to her daughter's casket to pay her respects; Ellyn dies from cancer days after the wake, leaving her husband and Line's father Ernie grieving over the loss of his wife and his daughter. The Trojans' coach, Kathy "Brez" Bresnahan continues to hold volleyball practice. She asks Line's best friend, Kelley Fliehler to return to the team, saying Line would have wanted them to continue. Kelley initially refuses, but Brez persuades her. The Trojans forfeited their most recent match and Kelley encourages the entire school to continue for Line. West High struggles in practice and loses their first game badly, still discouraged by Line's death. Brez runs the team through grueling drills and names Kelley the new captain. Kelley initially struggles in the role, but improves as the weeks go by. The team begins to win and is motivated to win the state championship for Line. They need to win the fourteen remaining games to be eligible for the state championship, which they do. Before the tournament begins, Kelley receives a gift from Line's father, that encourages her not just to play for Line, but to "Live Like Line." At West High, Kelley and boyfriend Alex paint the windows to read "Live Like Line". T-Shirts with the catchphrase are given out to players, staff, and fans. The Trojans win the quarter-final game with ease, but struggle to win their semi-final game. They move on to the championship against City High, who are heavily favored to win. Before the game, Brez gives a tribute to Line, deciding not to have a moment of silence, but encourages the crowd to meet someone new, as Line always was kind to everyone. City takes the lead early, but West ties the score and forces the fifth and final game, which the Trojans win. As the crowd cheers, " Sweet Caroline" plays in honor of Line and Kelley holds Line's picture up high and proud. During the

closing credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a ...

, images, videos, and footage show the real life Caroline Found and her family, Kelley Fliehler, Kathy Bresnahan, and the Iowa West High volleyball team. On-screen subtitles show how Caroline Found's death inspired the real Iowa West High volleyball team to repeat their win for the 2011 Iowa State Championship. The Founds climbed Mount Monadnock. Over 4,000 students from across Iowa attended Line's funeral. Kathy "Brez" Bresnahan was voted National Coach of the Year for 2011; she retired from coaching in 2014 but remains in contact with the 2011 team. Scott Sanders would replace Bresnahan as the West High coach, while Kelley Fliehler went on to study microbiology at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the ...

. Ernie was given a white rose at senior night to honor Caroline Found. A bench in downtown Iowa City was painted in honor of Line and her mother Ellyn.

Cast

* Erin Moriarty as Kelley Fliehler, Caroline's best friend who becomes the new volleyball team captain after Caroline dies *

as Caroline "Line" Found, star player of the

volleyball team who dies in a moped accident * Helen Hunt as Kathy Bresnahan, volleyball coach *

Jillian Fargey Jillian Fargey is a Canadian actress from Vancouver, British Columbia.Layne Christensen, "Fargey forsakes film for The Edible Woman". ''North Shore News'', October 5, 2001. She is most noted for her performance in the 2000 film ''Protection'', for ...

as Ellyn Found, Caroline's sick mother *

as Dr. Ernie Found, Caroline's father and Ellyn's husband *

Garry Chalk Garry Chalk is a British-born Canadian actor. He has provided the voices for Optimus Primal of '' Beast Wars: Transformers'' and ''Beast Machines'', as well as Optimus Prime in the anime English dubs of '' Transformers: Armada'', ''Transformer ...

as Principal Shaw *

Tiera Skovbye Tiera Skovbye (; born May 6, 1995) is a Canadian actress. She began her career as a child actress. She is known for starring in television films such as her role playing Elizabeth Berkley in Lifetime's '' The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Stor ...

as Brie Tipton, West High Volleyball Player #8 * Nesta Cooper as Lizzy Ackerman, West High Volleyball Player #18 * Lillian Douchet-Roche as Taylor Mitchell, West High Volleyball Player #14 * Natalie Sharp as Mackenzie "Mack" Davidson, West High Volleyball Player #11 * Rebecca Merastry as Volleyball Player #1 for West High * Emma Barlow as Volleyball Player #17 for West High *

Burkely Duffield Burkely Duffield (born August 9, 1992) is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Eddie Miller in ''House of Anubis'' and as Holden Matthews in ''Beyond''. His sister is actress and singer Victoria Duffield. Career Duffield made his screen debut ...

as Alex, Kelley's boyfriend *

Rebecca Staab Rebecca Ann Staab is an American actress. Early life Staab won the Miss Nebraska USA title and competed in the Miss USA 1980 pageant that year, where she placed in the Top 12. Acting career Before becoming an actress, Staab was a model fo ...

as Bethany, Kelley's mother * Ava Grace Cooper as Little Kelley * Bailey Skodje as Little Line The movie also had real-life former volleyball players as extras. Vanessa Wiebe and Cassandra Bagnell, who previously played for

Thompson Rivers University Thompson Rivers University (commonly referred to as TRU) is a Public university, public teaching and research university offering Undergraduate education, undergraduate and Postgraduate education, graduate Academic degree, degrees and Vocational ...

and Dalhousie University respectively portray Twin Towers 1 & 2, City High School volleyball teammates who rival West High. Jessica Bailey, who was a volleyball player for

Trinity Western University , mottoeng = A Mighty Fortress Is Our God , established = Trinity Junior College (1962–1972), Trinity Western College (1972–1985), Trinity Western University (1986–present) , type = Privat ...

, portrays herself as one of the West High Volleyball players. Alexis Jonker, Katelyn Devaney, and Rowyn Neufeld, also from Trinity Western University portray other volleyball players from rival schools West High faces. Olivia Cesaretti of

Douglas College Douglas College is the largest public degree-granting college institution in British Columbia, Canada. Close to 17,000 credit students, 8,500 continuing education students and 4,210 international students are enrolled here. Douglas College of ...

, Brianna Solberg and Taeya Page of

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

, Emma Barlow of

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

, as well as Samantha Patko of

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

portray additional West High Volleyball players. The film's director, Sean McNamara, makes a cameo as a Caroline Found fan, while Helen Hunt's real-life daughter, Makena Lei Gordon Carnahan, portrays a high schooler named Ruby.

Production

The film was originally titled ''Live Like Line''. William Hurt and Helen Hunt joined the film in June 2016; Hunt and McNamara previously worked together on the similarly-themed film ''

Soul Surfer A soul surfer (term invented during the 1960s) is a surfer who surfs for the sheer pleasure of surfing. Although they may still enter competitions, winning is not the soul surfer's main motive, since they scorn the commercialization of surfing. T ...

''. Filming took place in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Release

''The Miracle Season'' premiered at the

Englert Theatre Englert Theatre in Iowa City, Iowa, is a renovated vaudeville-era playhouse now serving as a community arts center and 725-seat performance venue. It is owned and operated year around by Englert Civic Theatre, a non-profit art organization. The b ...

in Iowa City, where the film is set, on March 18, 2018. It was released by LD Entertainment on April 6, 2018.

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Digital by

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...

on July 31, 2018.

Box office

In the United States and Canada, ''The Miracle Season'' was released alongside ''

A Quiet Place ''A Quiet Place'' is a 2018 American post-apocalyptic horror film directed by John Krasinski and written by Bryan Woods, Scott Beck and Krasinski, from a story conceived by Woods and Beck. The plot revolves around a father (Krasinski) and a mo ...

'', '' Chappaquiddick'' and '' Blockers'', and as projected to gross around $3 million from 1,707 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $4.1 million, finishing 11th; 74% of its audience was female.

Critical response

On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''The Miracle Season'' has a worthy real-life story to tell, but one-dimensional characters and aggressively maudlin storytelling undercut any emotional uplift." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miracle Season, The 2018 films American teen films Films about women's sports Drama films based on actual events Films directed by Sean McNamara Films set in 2011 Films set in Iowa Films shot in Vancouver Volleyball films Films scored by Roque Baños LD Entertainment films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films