Heaven Movie Review

Subtitle: A Ridiculously In-Depth Analysis of the Heaven Movie That Nobody Asked For. But Here It Is. Blame Lifetime.

When Luke sells the kids I wanted the dramatic moment of Book Luke selling the two youngest kids on Christmas Day. In the book Heaven gets Keith and Our Jane all prettied up because Luke told them to “expect company”. A couple comes by who wants to buy just one of them at first, but winds up buying them both.
Heaven realizes what’s going on and threatens Pa with a fireplace poker. Keith and Our Jane are screaming their heads off because they don’t want to be taken away from the only family they’ve ever known. It’s amazing in a horrifying way. V.C. Andrews really knew how to write dramatic moments.

In the movie there’s just a couple in a car who briefly stop outside the cabin. Luke leads the two youngest outside with a couple of suitcases. A woman opens the car door for them to get in, but doesn’t even talk. Like at all while she’s whisking 2 upset children away and their sibling is banging on the car door.

This is a massive disrespect to Mrs. Rita Rawlings, the woman who adopted Keith and Jane in the books. She might not have thought there was anything wrong with buying children from cabins in the backwoods, but at least she was nice about it Damnit. She reassured Heaven that Keith and Jane would be well taken care of several times, and promised to send her pictures to prove it. Which she actually followed through on.

Pictured Above: A portrait of a wonderful mother with two children she just so happened to purchase.
Rita Rawlings didn’t just do a drive-by kidnapping where she didn’t say a word. In the movie it’s a semi-dramatic moment, but also way too rushed. I didn’t want sad Heaven beating on a car door. I wanted furious Heaven wielding a fireplace poker and ready to take on a father who could squash her like a bug to protect children she considered her own.
Lifetime was now officially in my bad graces since I did not get my Christmas Day All Children Must Go Special Sale. I guess they didn’t all get sold on Christmas Day in the book, but Lifetime could have done that if they were looking to save time. It didn’t even have to be at Christmas, but it should have happened. I don’t even think there was an exchange of money, unless it took place beforehand. Heaven seems to think that Luke is just giving his children away.
He very specifically sold them, Lifetime, for $500 apiece. Like they were cows or horses at an auction. That’s what made it especially disgusting and awful. He didn’t just give them away.

In a much darker version of the story, Luke could have really cashed in on his kids.
Heaven says the twins are gone? Keith and Our Jane weren’t twins. He was 8 and she was 7, but I guess for the sake of rushing the story along it’s easier to make them twins.
They seemed like a really nice couple, Fanny? The woman didn’t even say anything at all to your hysterical sister. I have no idea what you’re basing this on.
“I wish Daddy would give me away to rich folk.” Be careful what you wish for, Fanny. This is true to her character, though. She did want to be given away to anyone rich as long as it meant she no longer had to be hungry, dirty and cold.

Tom doesn’t just go off willingly to work on a farm in Virginia. In the book he’s basically sold into slavery to a farmer who makes him do back breaking labor for 14-16 hours a day, but the farm is near Winnerow.
Movie Tom seems to think he’s going to get paid to be able to send money back to Heaven and Fanny. This raises questions for me knowing the book story line. Did Luke actually find him a legit job? Or did he just tell him it’s a legit job, but it’s really the indentured servitude of the books? That would be extra cruel.
If it was a legit job I suppose Movie Luke could even make Tom do the work and have any wages his son earned sent to him. Movie Luke might just be a secret evil genius.
In the books Fanny is also sold before Tom. It’s supposed to be like And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, but with kids. Fun for the whole family - excluding the kids! Different people come to the cabin to buy the children. First Keith and Jane, then Fanny, then Tom and lastly Heaven. You’re doing it all wrong, Lifetime, and not even in the proper order.

Tom wasn’t failing in school. He wasn’t as good of a student as Heaven, but he still did decent in school. He never expressed any interest in “working on the land.” Book Tom did like working in Luke’s circus, but he also pursued a college education in “Dark Angel” when Heaven encouraged him to. So he’s not stupid. I really don’t like how they’ve made Tom out to be just a dumb hillbilly.

I did enjoy the moment between Heaven and Tom where she says, “My family is my strength,” and he replies, “You are your strength, Sister.”
Where does the phrase “Full in heart” that Tom and Heaven say to each other come from? Is that supposed to be a family motto? Just a motto between Heaven and Tom? If we knew where it came from that might have more emotional impact. Like something they’ve said to each other since they were kids or some other mini explanation, but Lifetime cares not for context. Scarlett Lacey probably just thought it sounded deep.

Some guys in a truck come to pick up Tom. Are these the foremen he said would be coming for him or his new slave owners? I’m now imagining a Heaven horror movie spinoff of Tom’s time spent on this mysterious farm in Virginia.

He shows up at the end of the movie and appears fine, but is he just putting on a happy face to hide all the suffering he endured? Tears of a clown, perhaps?

All of my questions are unlikely to be answered by “Dark Angel” so I’m just going to make them up.

Up Next in Part 5:

Knowing the Bible really well makes underage sex slavery A-Okay!

I discover foreshadowing by cereal choice!

Fanny could have been a Tinder superstar!

Heaven Movie Review - Part 4