I Totally Disagree with the Rotten Tomatoes Score of This Jennifer Garner Movie with a 'Virgin River' Connection

Fourteen years ago, Annabel Beam fell 30 feet—and headfirst—into a hollowed-out cottonwood tree in Burleson, Texas. The 9-year-old, who was suffering from an incurable digestive disorder at the time, remained in the trunk for five hours until emergency personnel arrived to pull her out. In a shocking twist, Annabel not only survived the fall, but she was also miraculously cured of her disorder. When asked about her experience of being trapped in the trunk, she revealed that she went to heaven.

As you'd expect, the fascinating story made several headlines and even inspired the 2016 drama film, Miracles from Heaven, starring none other than Jennifer Garner as Christy Beam, Annabel's mother. The Hallmark-style movie, which also stars Virgin River's Martin Henderson as Christy's loyal husband, details the true story while tapping into themes of religion, faith, doubt, suffering and perseverance.

Given my own fascination with these topics and Annabel's incredible story, I just had to watch the film. And guys, it didn't disappoint. So, you could imagine my disappointment when I saw that the movie holds a 40 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

One quick glance at critics' reviews was enough to tell me that they were turned off by the film's religious elements, which, in a sense, I can understand. Miracles from Heaven is, in fact, a tad heavy-handed with the Christianese in certain scenes, but I do appreciate that I get to see the unfiltered, everyday lives of such a religious family—even if that means watching Annabel tell her new friend about Jesus or watching Christy have a heart to heart with her pastor about her struggles. And this brings me to my biggest point for why this movie actually deserves way more credit.

As Annabel (played by Kylie Rogers) endures painful symptoms and goes from doctor to doctor to figure out what's wrong, her mom begins to struggle with her faith. So much so that she begins to question God and quits going to church. I so appreciated this raw and honest portrayal of how traumatic experiences can shake a person's religious and moral foundations, and Garner's depiction of this confused and heartbroken mother briefly reminded me of Margaret's relatable journey in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

On the surface level, Christy and Margaret's experiences are vastly different. Margaret's circumstances lead to genuine curiosity about religion and Christy's situation drives her to doubt and distance herself from the church completely. But in both cases, they're hit with sudden challenges that they weren't prepared for, and this prompts them to think a bit more deeply about what's true and what they believe in.