Movie Review: The Last Sin Eater

It has been awhile since I have reviewed any movies. I just haven't seen any that I wanted to share and time has been hard to come by. Tonight I watched a really good movie that I gave 5 stars when I rated it on Netflix. I picked out the movie, The Last Sin Eater, without knowing much about it. The title intrigued me because I have read things about 'sin eaters' before and then I saw the movie had been directed by Michael Landon, Jr. and that cinched it for me. I have long been a fan of Michael Landon and his son. It was a shame when Michael Landon died at such an early age.

I wasn't exactly sure what this movie was going to be about and it is rated PG-13. I watched as the story of a ten-year-old girl unfolded. She was filled with guilt over something that wasn't really her fault. She lived in a community full of secrets and other guilty people. She tries to get the 'sin eater' of the community to help absolve her of her sins, but it doesn't change anything for her. She thinks that death is the only answer because the sin eater's job is to eat people's sins after they have passed on, and since he couldn't help her when she was alive, she was ready to end her life because she could no longer deal with her guilt. As she is ready to jump into a raging river, a stranger comes and saves her.

At first she runs from this man, but later, she goes to him and hears the Word of God. She learns that no man can absolve her of her sins, and that only Jesus has that power. Then we watch as she and another child change a community by spreading the Word of God to their elders. It is a powerful story and I highly recommend it. The movie is based on a novel of the same name by Francine River.