What Remains

Released Dec 2, 2022

1h 41m

Drama

List

50%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

88%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

A small town pastor is forced to reckon with an act of forgiveness when the convict he forgave for murdering his wife returns to town five years later, while the town sheriff investigates another murder that may be related.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Apr 16

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Rent What Remains on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

Ronald H

What Remains is a simple movie—bordering on simplistic at times—but don't be fooled. It eventually gets pretty tricky, and it deals with some heavy themes that are worth reflecting on. Marshall (Cress Williams) is a black Baptist preacher in a small Texas town. He's well liked by his parishioners and the townspeople, who sympathize with him because his beloved wife was shot and killed in a home invasion five years ago. The killer, Troy (Kellan Lutz) has been arrested and jailed. Shortly after the murder, Marshall tells his congregation that he has recommended that Troy get a reduced sentence because the Gospel tells him to forgive his enemies. But his teenage son Samuel (Marcus Gladney, Jr) is not happy with his father's decision. Troy is released after five years (Remember, this is Texas. A white guy shooting a black woman? Not a great surprise). He returns to the town to ostensibly care for his sick mother. Unable to find a job anywhere, he encounters Marshall, who puts him to work doing maintenance work for the church. Samuel is livid about this, and it's not a stretch to imagine what's eventually going to happen. In what initially seems like a sublot but turns out to be central to the story, Sheriff Maureen (Anne Heche, perfect in her final role) is called to the scene of another apparent murder involving a pickup truck that has been burned up. The first hour of this film moves slowly enough to tax viewers' patience, but right around the one hour point, it upshifts rapidly into tense thriller territory. Flashbacks and flash-forwards are used skilfully as the pieces of the puzzle fall into place. The performances are uniformly excellent, especially Williams and Heche. And the difficulty of Christian forgiveness is dealt with intelligently without lapsing into proselytizing. This film can't be lumped in with other so-called "Christian" films. It's a family drama and a thriller. The murder scene is as shocking as anything I've ever seen on film. And there's even a sly reference to another Texas murder movie—the Coen brothers' Blood Simple. Shed blood is not easy to clean up. The conclusion of this film is not a surprise, but it's righteous, and it works perfectly. Faith is messy. Forgiveness is messy. Accountability is messy. This film is not afraid to deal with the mess.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/08/23

Full Review

Barbara M

The movie is genuinely thought provoking! Enjoyed it and look forward to more movies from Mr. Scoggins.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/04/22

Full Review

candy b

Great first film from Sharpened Iron Studios. An unsettling story, making you wrestle out big themes of love & hate, lies & truth, mercy & justice, sin & grace. Beautifully acted, including the late Anne Heche. Excited to see what they'll do next.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Beautiful movie. Well written, acted, and produced. Recommend to anyone.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/02/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Great message of forgiveness! Acting was also great! Good film for the whole family to watch and take away some great lessons from.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/02/22

Full Review

Chonda B

This was a fantastic movie! It so nice to see something well done without vulgarity :) Make more movies Sharpened Iron Studios!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/02/22

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Nathan Scoggins

Director

Cress Williams

Marshall

Kellan Lutz

Troy

Marcus Gladney Jr.

Samuel

Anne Heche

Maureen

Stelio Savante

Scott

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

75%

72%

Stillwater

TRAILER

for Stillwater

89%

87%

Land of Gold

TRAILER

for Land of Gold

88%

75%

Ballad of a White Cow

86%

75%

La Civil

TRAILER

for La Civil

71%

86%

Dear Zoe

TRAILER

for Dear Zoe

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Brandon Yu

New York Times

Even as a Lifetime-esque soap, “What Remains” sputters, lacking any of the sensational twists to allow itself to sink into enjoyable pulp.

Dec 1, 2022

Full Review

Rod Machen

Austin Chronicle

What Remains is an example of what can happen when filmmakers tackle tough issues head on.

Nov 17, 2022

Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Common Sense Media

This drama is often painfully slow, and it sometimes suffers from budgetary restraints, but its message of forgiveness comes through clearly and without heavy-handedness.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 5, 2022

Full Review

Roger Moore

Movie Nation

Anne Heche makes her curtain call memorable, not wasting one second of her screen time, a compact performance of canniness and compassion that nicely complements the leads and makes this worth watching, if not really worth “endorsing.”

Rated: 2/4

Nov 30, 2022

Full Review

Josh Bell

Crooked Marquee

Glum and self-righteous, with little to offer beyond a homily.

Rated: C

Nov 30, 2022

Full Review

Sabina Dana Plasse

Film Threat

Although What Remains is slow moving it is purposeful about accepting forgiveness and moving on.

Rated: 7/10

Nov 17, 2022

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

A small town pastor is forced to reckon with an act of forgiveness when the convict he forgave for murdering his wife returns to town five years later, while the town sheriff investigates another murder that may be related.

Director: Nathan Scoggins
Producer: Sean Doherty, Korey Scott Pollard, Stelio Savante, Nathan Scoggins
Screenwriter: Nathan Scoggins
Distributor: Gravitas Ventures
Production Co: Sharpened Iron Studios , What Remains
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 2, 2022, Limited
Runtime: 1h 41m

Most Popular at Home Now