‘A Holiday Homecoming’ movie premier comes to Lincoln

 

[December 13, 2021] 

On Saturday evening, the local premier of the new family movie “A Holiday Homecoming” took place at the Johnston Center for Performing Arts at Lincoln College. The movie is a production of Candace Cain, Gemelli Films.

Cain has become well acquainted with the Lincoln and Logan County Area, recently filming two episodes of a new television series “Wrath & Rituals” in Lincoln. With a goal of expanding her production company into Logan County on a permanent basis, she chose to showcase her work in Lincoln through the premier of her new movie.

Catherine Cain and Allison Mullaney

Prior to the movie premier on Saturday, a casual reception was held at the Lincoln Arts Institute. Guests were able to stop in and visit with Cain and two members of the cast, Allison Mullaney and Catherine Cain.

Allison Mullaney, Senator Sally Turner, Catherine Cain

Among those on hand for the pre-movie event was Illinois Senator Sally Turner, who hosted Cain and her cast during the filming of the television show in early November.

Cain said that the television show is gaining interest and she is excited about the future of the series. She has three more episodes in the works, and plans to film all three in Lincoln, if she can get the funding.

The hot chocolate and cookie reception at the Arts Institute was a family oriented event that lasted from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Then the party moved to the Johnston Center for Performing Arts where about 50 to 75 people attended the premier.

After the movie there was an after-party hosted at the Idle Hour in downtown Lincoln.

A Holiday Homecoming – the movie

The leading male role in the movie is Jessie McNeil, played by Jon Hacker. Jessie is a beyond college age young man living at home with and working for his father. The father is recently widowed, and the two men share a large home in the small community of Hope, New York.

The leading female role is that of Abigail, played by Mullaney. Abigail is 14 with a 10-year-old brother named David, played by Robert Levey II. The two children lost their parents three years ago, and have been in the foster care system and eligible for adoption since then.

The movie opens with a scene in the local small town church. Jessie is in attendance with his girlfriend Maggie, played by his real-life wife Taryn Hacker.

The pastor shares that the local orphanage has burned over night, and there are a large number of children who have been displaced. He encourages the congregation to consider taking in some of these children at least temporarily.

Christmas is just a few days away, and the pastor says it would be good to give the children a home for Christmas, and perhaps some families would even consider providing such a home until the orphanage can be rebuilt.

After the service, Maggie encourages Jessie to take in at least one child for Christmas, but also suggests that with the large home he lives in, the two men could take in siblings. Jessie is adamant that he doesn’t like children and does not want kids living in his home. This is an admission that Maggie finds disturbing for more than a few reasons. She finally convinces him to at least think about it.

When Jessie arrives home, he discovers that his father has already pulled the trigger and taken in two children, Abigail and David.

Abigail is an extremely bitter young girl. She knows that the chances that she and her brother will ever be adopted are slim to none and she is suspicious of the two men who have taken the children into their home. On multiple occasions her little brother encourages her to try and be nice, but for Abigail, the attempts to do so are temporary and she reverts back to the young girl who is bitter and angry at her circumstances.
 

Of course, every good movie needs conflict, and that conflict comes in the form of Jessie’s former girlfriend Lucy, who suddenly returns to town. She is not a welcome visitor in Jessie’s mind and his father agrees wholeheartedly.

Thinking they are alone, the two men talk about Lucy and how terrible she is. They wish she would leave and never come back.

Unbeknownst to Jessie and his father, Abigail overhears a portion of the conversation and thinks the men are talking about her. From what she overhears Abigail also draws the conclusion that the men are very fond of her brother David. She decides that it would be best for all if she ran away. But she also determines that she will leave her little brother with the McNeill’s.

The balance of the storyline involves Abigail as well as Jessie coming to some surprising revelations that will in the end lead to ‘A Holiday Homecoming.’

Appearing in a small part of the movie is Cain’s daughter, Catherine. Catherine plays the role of Martha, the sister of Jessie’s girlfriend Maggie. Catherine has only a few short lines in the movie, but is dominate in a shopping scene when Jessie discovers that the kids lost all their clothing in the fire, not that they had all that much to start with. He, Maggie and Martha, take Abigail and David on a shopping spree with Jessie paying the bill.

While the movie is light and entertaining, it also touches on some of the harsh realities of the foster care system and the plight of children up for adoption in this country.

The movies slides in the fact that there are more than 500,000 children in the system, and that the older a child gets, the less likely it is that child will be adopted. While infants are in demand, would-be parents will rarely consider adopting teenagers or siblings.

There is also a slight commentary about those who use ‘the system” for the sake of money. When Abigail and David are told they will go shopping, she suspects that Jessie and his father will hit the orphanage up for money, and that it is the only reason they would even take the kids into their home.

The movie also reflects a spiritual aspect from its start to end.

At the end of the film on Saturday evening, the guests agreed that it was a well done movie, light and sweet, and a good message.

The movie is currently available for viewing on PureFlix.com

[Nila Smith]