Sight-Andrew Hyatt

After the success of Sound of Freedom, Angel Studios has been releasing a steady string of moderate hits. Mostly feel-good stories with semi-risque boundary lines, at least, for Christian films. Sight marks the third Angel Studios film I have seen after the aforementioned Sound of Freedom and The Shift. Sight begins on a very dour note as we the audience have the unfortunate privilege of watching a surrogate mother pay a henchman to chloroform her daughter, Kajal (Mia SwaminNathan) deliberately, then pour boiling oil into both of her eyes to blind her. The end goal is that blinded children—forced to learn and sing Darshan Do Ghanshyam and become beggars—will elicit more sympathy from passers-by, thus increasing monetary income for the parents vs. some ordinary street hawkers. *This same method was also used in the movie Slumdog Millionaire and may be exclusive to India, as I haven't seen it depicted in any other culture, but I am not sure of this.* From here the film jumps into modern times and we get to meet Dr. Ming Wang (Terry Chen), a brilliant eye surgeon who is struggling against inner doubt about a breakthrough in restoring eyesight he is almost certain is just one formula away, but seems to be forever just out of reach. After a dissertation, Dr. Wang meets Kajal, who miraculously was rescued from her captors in India and then brought to the United States in a desperate pitch to see what can be done to reverse the damage to her eyes. Dr. Wang and his assistant Dr. Misha Barnovsky (Greg Kinnear) examine the girl and Dr. Wang submits to defeat and admits to her guardian that there is nothing that can be done. The film then jumps back into the 60s where we learn of Dr. Ming Wangs' upbringing in China where, two decades fresh off of World War 2, the Mao dynasty has been firmly entrenched with oppressive communism. Dr Wang struggles to see his dream become realized of attending medical school in the United States while comrades in training continue to harass him and his family relentlessly. Oftentimes physically abusing him and his girlfriend for their refusal to buy into the absolute submissiveness of communist ideals. Despite these odds beset against him, Dr. Wang perseveres and eventually gets accepted into MIT (I think) and flourishes in his opportunity to learn with unabated channels of education while also adapting to the new atmosphere of Western culture (oftentimes failing hilariously in the process). Back in modern times, Dr. Wang continues to battle internally with being unable to come up with a solution when he knows it is right around the corner. Eventually, in a Newton-like moment of clarity, Dr Ming realizes where he is coming up short and thrusts himself into endless experiments with a multitude of rabbits with Dr. Misha. The work consumes them for hours until finally the formula begins to bring positive effects and Dr. Wang recalls Kajal for a reexamination. Multiple operations produce no effects and Dr. Wang feels as if all his work was for nothing until one final operation partially repairs the eyesight to another girl. Then Kajal is returned for another operation which proves to be effective. And, in turn, creates a forever bond between the two. Films like these, where you leave the theater with a feeling of fulfillment and renewed hope in humanity, are exceptionally important in balancing out the scales of life. Now, mind you, I love some downright depressing and emotionally jarring stories. But too much downtrodden matter within your diet has a way of distorting your filter of life. And even I have to remind myself of that. For instance, within the past two weeks, I went and saw We Will Dance Again and City of Dreams. The former was a documentary about the October 7th Hamas massacre at Supernova Music Festival in Israel and the latter was about human trafficking. Both were amazing films and each took me a good five minutes to recompose myself before leaving the theater. But an overload of grim subject matter such as these tends to weigh you down. And this is where light-hearted renderings of inspirational stories like Dr. Ming Wang's help to add some uplifting renewal into your life. A shade of under two hours of this remarkable story about a man whose path resembles Frederick Douglass' and how, much like Douglass, despite the implementations beset against him, went on to have extraordinary success. Cross-country stories like this are extremely important to be seen. They help to rip the fabric of vacuumed perceptions we unintentionally create for ourselves and shed light on the international struggles unique to many different walks of life. A great movie that will undoubtedly make your day better.

Stars: ****

Verdict: Watch

Cousins: Slumdog Millionaire, Ezra, The Killing Fields, Good Will Hunting