“Undeserved” is a film about a dysfunctional family featuring a multifaceted story of those struggling to survive the ruins of their parents. Almost every character has a dark side stemming from a wounded past. Dawn, the 18 year old, has violently lost her partying mother. Jamie her aunt, also raised under alcoholism, steps up to take Dawn in. But she finds that her husband (and co-pastor to their ‘’successful” but spiritually dead church) is attracted to young girls, not to mention his affair with her best friend. So when Dawn runs from their home of unwelcome advances, Jamie too is faced with a drastic change of life as she leaves, separating from cushy and familiar.

Soon Dawn’s search for security attracts the manipulative and cunning pimp Basti, intriguingly played by Adam Elliott Davis. He convinces her that she needs someone who will watch out for her instead of a bad family that “abuses and abandons”; then he introduces her to prostitution and drug use. The bright spot in the film comes when Jamie arrives at a street shelter looking for Dawn. She is introduced to David, a street minister, also recovering from a broken and addictive past. There is clearly a difference about him, and we finally hear a voice for the importance of prayer and a personal relationship with Jesus. Eventually, both Dawn and Jamie experience healing through God’s grace of transformation, and even David recovers family ties. This film is neither graphic nor profane, yet it addresses the more seedy side of lives gone wrong. Because of the subject matter, “Undeserved” would be appropriate for audiences 18 years and older.