There will always be a moment where the light of life enters you through your wounds.

In Nathanael
Matanick’s “ReMoved” released in August 2013, a whole 35-minutes is dedicated to the life of Zoe as
she battles the swords of the foster care system. As she embarks on a journey to her home, she
experiences the tough life: unseen, unloved, unheard, unwanted. The storyline follows Zoe’s narration
from tossing from family to family, separating from her brother to the joys and wonders of home.

“ReMoved” is the rare movie that succeeds on almost every level, where each character, scene,
costume, and setting firing on all cylinders to make a film worth repeated viewings

What do we really heart about this masterpiece? The theme revolves around a coming-of-age
contemporary issue that hasn’t been paid attention by the world ever since. As we go on to life, we
never really think of foster children seldom, didn’t we? After an eye opening movement, the Matanicks
served as a hot foster tea with all of its flavors bursting: the pain, guilt, and satisfaction of the foster care
system.

The script, being the soul of the movie, has pierced within our inner beings as each word is associated to
hurt, each sentence to heartbreak, each dialogue to harm. Christina Matanick surely knows how to put
pain into language and use it as an armor against children’s sufferings.

If you really want to see this movie, pay attention to its plot. The film follows the emotional journey of
Zoe, a 9-year-old girl who is taken from her uncontrollable father and powerless mother and placed in
the tumultuous foster care system. Separated from her brother, Zoe bounces from foster home to foster
home, experiencing additional trauma within the system, and finally lands in a good foster home but
experiences flashbacks and behavioral issues stemming from triggers in her environment. When placed
in the home of foster mother, Ms. Law, Zoe is faced with her most difficult struggle of all — finding what
is lovable in herself. As she is reunited with her brother, Benaiah, she begins to see the glimmer of light
once again, until this glimmer of light shrinks again.

The story is what you really expected it to be. It’s just plain and follows the typical foster life. Honestly, it
met our expectation, but it didn’t exceed them much. We find each scene predictable, but each second
of it is surely not boring.

If only we could raise our hands and bow our heads to the exceptional acting of Abby White, we promise
you we would do so. No Hollywood actress can surpass what she had done and made us feel when she
played the lead actor, Zoe. She makes us understand what it feels to be abused and be a foster child.
Her acting is far more than intellectual and mechanical, it’s instinctive! And can we just say her eyes
speaks for herself before she could even utter a word. Of course, our claps also goes to the supporting
actors and actresses and our little Benaiah.