A struggling inner-city mother sacrifices everything to give her son a good education. Unwilling to allow her son to stay in a dangerous school, she launches a movement that could save his future – and that of thousands like him.
When Virginia (Uzo Aduba), an inner-city mom, begins to fear that she will lose her son James (Niles Fitch) to the streets, she enrolls him into a private school after discovering he has been skipping classes and constantly bullied by a kid names Bonz (Nadji Jeter). With costs over $7,000 a year, she finds employment as a housekeeper working in the office of crooked politician Lorraine Townsend (Aunjanue Ellis) in order to pay the tuition. A conversation about fighting for children’s education gives Virginia the impression that Lorraine is on the side of the people, but when Virginia discovers data exposing the truth about school funding, she confronts Lorraine and begins to research the dark political side of the education system.
Virginia begins to gain public attention as she gathers signatures to propose a new bill but is quickly shut down by Lorraine’s team who wants to silence her. After many setbacks, personally, as her son falls prey to the street life and politically, she desperately approaches author and Congressman Cliff William (Matthew Modine) for help. Cliff not only has a passion to create change but knows how to win in the game of politics against Lorraine. Virginia approaches the city council with a bill proposal that will provide scholarships to children from low-income families, enabling them to attend private schools. With a very close vote count, the bill is eventually passed creating many opportunities for youth to attend better education institutions.
I loved this story, it is very inspiring and heartwarming how the love of a child can inspire an ordinary woman to do what seems like the impossible. It also opens your eyes to the terrible side of how politics plays a role in how and who receives the best funding for education. This movie is definitely an eye-opener.
In Theaters Friday, October 18th
