Image Credit – Burningkarma- Joey and Rory – CC BY 2.0 – via Wikimedia Commons.org

I love movies but these days, good family films are getting harder and harder to come by.  Last night, my husband, my daughter and I decided to utilize my Pureflix subscription and we watched To Joey, With Love.  I didn’t really know much about Joey and Rory until I started seeing posts in my Facebook feed about Joey’s cancer diagnosis.  Something about her story struck my interest so I started following her story.  I also read several of Rory’s blog posts.  Even though I had known nothing about this musically talented couple, Joey’s story captured my heart’s attention.  I followed all the way to the end.

To Joey, With Love

I had heard that To Joey, With Love was an awesome film, a real tear-jerker, if you will.  Since I already knew how things turned out, I wasn’t surprised to learn that I would likely need a box of tissues to get through the movie.  Whoever told me that was correct.

I was a little bit confused at first.  I had expected the film to be more of a movie about Joey and Rory’s life together.  I thought the movie was a MOVIE with actors playing the parts of Joey and Rory.  It’s probably obvious to others right away, but it took me a few minutes to realize that this film is actually footage Rory took with his personal video camera.  It’s actually a documentary as Rory documents their story as the scenes play out.

The film documents some things about their personal lives – the farm, Joey’s chickens.  You’ll learn about the barn they turned into a concert venue so that they could perform close to home.  They wanted to take a year off so they could spend a year at home with their new baby, Indiana.  You’ll fall in love with this family as they fall in love with their Indiana who happens to have Down’s Syndrome.  You’ll grab a tissue here and there as you follow their story all the way to Joey’s goodbyes.

Here’s a look into the film with the official movie trailer.

Joey and Rory’s faith is evident in their story.  Rory started out telling his audience that he started documenting their lives because he believed God was going to give them a great story – and He did.

The film might be hard to watch for some but it is an inspiring story rooted in deep faith in God.  I recommend a mature audience because this really is a film about a dying woman’s last days.  However, as a family film, it brings up several opportunities for family discussions around the topics of faith and family, special needs children, death and dying, and eternal life after death.  Families might draw a wealth of inspiration and strength from Rory’s example as he prepares for Joey’s death and as he becomes Indiana’s primary caregiver.