I had heard much about this particular movie but has missed seeing it in theaters. Luckily, I have just moved in to a new house, where we have a projector and a large screen, so I could enjoy it in style. I was not familiar with the Cokeville incident until now, and going into the movie, I vaguely knew that it had something to do with a hostage situation in a school.

Now, on the other side of seeing this movie, here are my thoughts:

1. It tells a very uplifting account based on actual events. In a nutshell, it tells about a madman (who happens to share a name with my father, David Young, but no relation), who held an entire elementary school hostage and demanded over $200 million for their release. He had a large bomb with him, with which he kept everyone inside. The movie documents the many miracles of the day, which I won't spoil, but which keep piling up in a remarkable way. Afterwards, I felt a profound thanks for God's hand in my life and a strengthened faith about how He can protect and deliver us.

2. It has a format that is not like many other movies out there. The movie surprised me in that the hostage situation itself was over far earlier in the movie than I would have expected. The remainder of the movie focused on the aftermath. It was a bit as though the film had shifted gears from feature film to documentary, which is not necessarily a bad thing, just unexpected.  The story had another plot about a policeman who had lost his faith and struggled to regain it, but for me, it drew a little focus from the actual events. I might have really liked to see this as a documentary with a few dramatized scenes.

3. It's PG-13 for a reason. There's shooting, explosions, mayhem, and a lot of kids being threatened. If you have younger viewers, you might want to screen it yourself first.

Overall, I'm very glad to have learned about this account. It strengthened my faith despite its unconventional format.

If you'd like to purchase it, you can find it here: https://deseretbook.com/p/dvd-cokeville-miracle?variant_id=114589-dvd