The Affirm Originals movie Moonrise on Pure Flix stars country music star Granger Smith in his debut movie performance. The film, written and directed by Vickie Bronaugh, is about faith and forgiveness and tells a captivating story about one family’s struggle to heal. Granger shares with Shout! OUTDOOR LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE readers about the movie. He also talks about the Texan farm that served as the stunning outdoor location for this story featuring beautiful horses. He then discusses his deep faith in Jesus Christ. Watch Granger’s conversation with us now and then keep reading below.
TAP HERE AND EXPAND FOR DETAILS ON HOW THIS MOVIE SHOWCASES THE POWER OF FAITH & FAMILY
The AFFIRM Originals movie MOONRISE premieres exclusively on Pure Flix beginning with the 2022 Christmas season. The film is about faith and forgiveness and tells a captivating story about one family’s struggle to heal.
The emotional core of the new film MOONRISE stems from a personal experience that writer and director Vickie Bronaugh had following the death of her mother.
“The Christmas after my mother passed away, my father was lost. On Christmas Eve at my sister’s ranch, we were outside on the porch and my father wouldn’t get up and go inside to celebrate. How could he move forward when my mother couldn’t?” said director Vickie Bronaugh. “There was a supermoon on the horizon and it shined this white light on us. As it rose, it got brighter and brighter and we all just sat there quietly. After that happened, my father stood up and said, ‘let’s go inside.’ He knew at that moment she had moved forward, and we should too. And that quiet moment inspired this film, MOONRISE.”
The movie stars country artist Granger Smith in his film debut, Sonya Balmores (SOUL SURFER), Wally Welch (Yellowstone, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN) and introduces Piper Clurman, Kace Winfield and Jaxon Noble Pickens. The movie was written and directed by Vickie Bronaugh and produced by Sean McNamara (REAGAN, SOUL SURFER) and David Brookwell (SOUL SURFER) of Brookwll McNamara Entertainment.
Granger Smith plays Will Brown, a former country singer who has pushed away his family, fame and faith following his wife’s death. It’s his daughter, Ellie (played by Piper Clurman) and a talented horse trainer, Sam (played by Sonya Balmores) who show him strength, forgiveness and grace to live life again.
“This is a powerful movie with a very relational message. Will is grieving his wife and unable to forgive himself for past decisions all while trying to raise and protect his kids,” said Granger Smith. “He’s a complicated man carrying pain and guilt. But it’s not until he’s intentional about healing that he can move forward. It’s a brilliant story about redemption and forgiveness.”
IT TAKES THE TIME IT TAKES
GRANGER SMITH: In the movie the character I play, Will Brown, is so relatable. He is grieving the loss of his wife and he’s not doing it very well. He’s trying to raise 3 kids as a single dad. We want him to soften up, open up emotionally, let people in and realize that he doesn’t have to be the rock that everyone leans on.
Horse Trainer, Sam communicates a simple but powerful and often overlooked spiritual concept. Will tells the trainer that his daughter Ellie would like to be riding her mother’s horse, which has become untamed, within a couple of weeks. Sam says, “It takes the time it takes.” Though she’s talking about the horse the truth applies equally to the changes Will and the others want in their own lives.
OUTDOORS ON LOCATION IN THE BIG BEAUTIFUL STATE OF TEXAS
Perhaps there’s no better place than the outdoors and our interactions with the inhabitants of nature for us to realize or at least yield to the truth that our agendas and self will never take preeminence over God’s plan and purpose.
We’ve all heard that everything in Texas is big. It’s true. Wikipedia says, “At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km 2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by both area (after Alaska) and population (after California).”
When you drive through Texas that translates into vast areas of desert dotted by some big cities.
On Quora, John Kelly, Pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church says, “Texas has environments of all types, from pine forests and Cyprus swamps in the east to deserts in the west to rich black earth farmlands, rolling hills and prairies in the central portions. It even has mountains and beaches/sea shores. Pretty much any type of terrain or climate you are looking for (except maybe tundra/glaciers) you can find it in Texas somewhere.”
In the movie Moonrise, as Lynn (Sam), the horse trainer arrives in to the town of Blanco, Texas she tells her dog who is riding in the truck with her, “We’re not in the city anymore.”
The scenery is beautifully captured in this movie and celebrates the amazing Texas outdoors that few see. Let this movie serve as a visual invitation then plan a trip to that vast parts of Texas that will let you experience God’s ‘big’ outdoors.
GRANGER, BIBLE READING AND A TAILGATE CHURCH PEW
GRANGER SMITH: My perspective of Jesus drastically changed when I started reading him as revealed in the Bible. When I could understand Him through the revealed Word, the living – breathing Bible), I could then take that perspective and put it into the world. I could look at the world and the beautiful creation and see how beautiful it is. It wasn’t until I started sitting and reading on a daily plan that I could then see Jesus revealed as He should be.
I FEEL GOD IN THE WILDERNESS
GRANGER SMITH: We see Jesus retreating to the wilderness. I feel him in creation, the mountains and the sunset. We have to get away from our screens, step out and breathe the air. When there’s no distractions, that’s the time he can speak clearly to us.
When Will takes Sam on a tour of the farm we get to experience with them the joy of galloping through the sun kissed wide open fresh air and endless expanse of not only the farm but God’s provision for us. God provides for our emotional, mental and spiritual needs in ways we can never imagine.
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