The Prayer List movie review by Movie Review Mom

MOVIE TITLE: The Prayer List

RATING: PG   (mature, triggering themes)

LENGTH: 1 hour 44 minutes

Featured Product About This Movie:

A prayer journal

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IN A NUTSHELL:

Based on an incredible true story, The Prayer List follows Michele Neil, an adopted Olympic Taekwondo hopeful whose dreams are shattered by a series of devastating misfortunes. After her father is injured in an accident, her family is left desperately trying to make ends meet. Michele even finds herself homeless and living out of her car for over a year while trying to balance her training and support her family. As one tragedy follows another, she begins to deeply question her faith, entirely unaware that God is steering her toward her true calling as a doctor. Framed through a series of flashbacks on the day of her wedding, the movie is a testament to resilience, hope, and the unexpected ways prayers are answered.

Directed by Esteban “Stevie” Fernandez Jr. (Forgotten Fortune, Fork Your Diet), ‘The Prayer List’ features Michele Neil, an adopted Olympic Taekwondo hopeful struggling to find her footing in life. Writing credits go to Stevie and Mark Sherwood.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

• Sexual Assault / Abuse: The film features a highly sensitive and potentially triggering subplot involving Michele’s martial arts instructor. It is heavily implied behind closed doors that he takes sexual advantage of the young girls; Michele is seen crying with her clothes disheveled after leaving his office.

• Heavy Themes: Prominent themes of homelessness, severe financial desperation, intense emotional trauma, family accidents, and a painful leg injury that ruins a sports career.

• Discussion Starters: This is an excellent film to discuss how to maintain faith during periods of immense hardship and how a “closed door” in life can sometimes lead to a much greater calling.

• Lack of Profanity: I appreciate words like “dangit” and “gosh” to replace hard-core profanity.

THEMES:

• Faith and perseverance through trauma

• Overcoming homelessness and broken dreams

• Adoption and finding your identity

• God’s timing vs. human plans

• Trust in God
• Resilience

THINGS I LIKED:

• Inspiring True Story: Knowing that this is based on the real-life triumphs and hardships of Dr. Michele Neil and her husband, Mark Sherwood, gives the narrative a profound emotional weight. The young Michele Neil is played by Kelsey LaCourse. Michele Neil as a doctor and bride was played by Svetlana Simmons. We get to see the real Michele Neil at the 1 hour 38 mark! She’s a client who slips into a clinic and walks past Svetlana Simmons. We also see her in the final rolling credits at the end.

• The Frame Narrative: Presenting Michele’s traumatic childhood and eventual triumph through a box of old memories and stories shared on her wedding day is a great, heartfelt concept.

• Strong Faith Element: The film doesn’t shy away from faith, although it’s not a large part of the story until the end.  Michele’s best friend is the one who introduces the prayer list and faith into the story. Michele mostly shouts at God in anger and frustration.

• Message of Resilience: It does an honorable job showing that success doesn’t always look like the dream we originally chased.

• Humor: I got a kick out of Mark Sherwood and K.C. Lupp with their playful banter and natural acting styles.
• Taekwondo: I earned a black belt in Taekwondo many years ago with one of my sons, so I was intrigued to see how the sport would be represented in the film!

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

• Pacing and Structure: The flashback structure can feel disjointed and takes a significant amount of time for the audience to fully piece together the timeline. Some of the scenes are completely unnecessary.

• Heavy-Handed Intensity: The film is relentlessly heavy. From angry family confrontations to predatory mentors, it can feel like a gauntlet of trauma without enough light moments to balance the narrative out.

• Production Value: Like many lower-budget faith-based dramas, the acting and script can occasionally lean into overly melodramatic territory rather than natural dialogue.

• Acting & Casting: A lot of the acting is very stiff and amateur. Some of the casting was pretty off.
• Action Sequences: The Taekwondo fighting sequences weren’t as good as you would hope.
• Title: The content of the film doesn’t quite match the title. There is an angry prayer at the beginning of the film and then no other prayers until 1 hour 25 minutes later. For those worried that this is a preachy Christian film, they’ll be relieved to know that it’s not like that at all. The prayer list seems more like a wish list with a tiny mention of God.

FUNNY LINES:

• “Look, I’m just the best man, but if you dive any deeper into that memory box, we’re going to miss the actual wedding!” –  Jim  (K.C. Lupp)

• INTERESTING LINES:

• “I can’t compete anymore… my leg… I just can’t do anything like that ever again.” – Michele

• “But there are other things you can be great at. Maybe even the best at. But you have to decide what that’s going to be.” – Jesse (Sarah Ehambe)

• “Time is but a measure of one’s willingness to win.” – Taekwondo Master Cho (David Tran Nguyen)
• “I can’t turn my anger into power.” – female teammate on Taekwondo team

MOVIES LIKE THIS YOU ALSO MIGHT LIKE:

• My All American – Another powerful, emotional sports drama about an athlete facing a career-ending obstacle who must rely on deep faith and resilience.

• The Blind Side – Captures similar themes of adoption, overcoming immense environmental hardships, and finding a family structure that propels someone to greatness.

• Run the Race – A faith-based drama highlighting two brothers dealing with shattered athletic dreams, family trauma, and finding a purpose beyond sports.

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