Watch Amish Grace

Amish Grace is a heart-wrenching 2010 made-for-television movie that tells the story of an unimaginable tragedy that happens in the small Amish community of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. The movie is directed by Gregg Champion and based on the book Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy by Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, and David L. Weaver-Zercher.

The movie starts with an idyllic scene of a typical day in the Nickel Mines Amish community. However, the peaceful atmosphere is abruptly shattered when a gunman storms into a local schoolhouse and opens fire on a group of young Amish girls. The scene is truly heart-wrenching, and viewers can hardly believe what they are witnessing.

The horrendous event sends shockwaves through the entire Amish community, deeply traumatizing the children who managed to survive the attack while leaving their families reeling with grief. When the killer turns the gun on himself and takes his own life, some members of the community find it hard to move on and struggle to accept what has happened.

However, the story takes a surprising turn when the devastated families of the victims must confront a difficult decision. They have the choice of either blaming the killer's widow, Ida Graber (played by Kimberly Williams-Paisley), or embracing the Amish tradition of forgiveness.

When the Amish community chooses the latter and extends a hand of forgiveness to Ida, it causes a ripple effect of healing and hope that touches everyone in the community. The movie highlights that the essence of Amish culture is forgiveness, compassion, and the belief that everything happens for a good reason, even in the face of such unspeakable tragedy.

While the movie showcases such deep and profound themes, the acting is also noteworthy in Amish Grace. Kimberly Williams-Paisley gives a tour-de-force performance as the killer's widow, whose whole world is turned upside down when her husband takes the lives of innocent children. Somehow, she manages to capture both the immense pain and suffering her character experiences and her slow transformation towards healing and redemption.

Tammy Blanchard also delivers a remarkable performance as Amy Roberts, whose daughter was one of the victims of the shooting. Through her portrayal, Blanchard conveys the emotional turmoil of a grieving mother whose faith is tested by the senseless cruelty of the tragedy.

Finally, Fay Masterson beautifully portrays Barbie, an outsider journalist who's initially there for news purposes but becomes deeply invested in the story and its characters. Thanks to her character's perspective, the movie shows how the events and reactions of the Nickel Mines Amish community impacted the outside world and also provided a beacon of hope for those struggling with forgiveness and compassion.

At its core, Amish Grace is an unforgettable movie that showcases the healing power of forgiveness and the immense capacity of the human heart to overcome unimaginable tragedies. It's a movie that will stay with viewers long after the credits have rolled, reminding them of the incredible strength of the human spirit and the transformative power of compassion and forgiveness.

Amish Grace is a 2010 drama with a runtime of 1 hour and 28 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 7.0.