The Memory Keeper’s
Daughter is a Lifetime Original Movie available on DVD. It is based on the
best-selling novel by the same name by Kim Edwards. Starring Dermot Mulroney,
Gretchen Mol, and Emily Watson, it offers a very positive portrayal of a girl
with Down Syndrome. In a world in which the
majority of children diagnosed with Down Syndrome in utero are aborted, these positive portrayals are desperately
needed in order to help change hearts and minds.
In 1964, Dr. David Henry (Mulroney) delivered his wife’s
twins. His son was born healthy and normal while his daughter was born with
Down Syndrome. Dr. Henry has experience with Down Syndrome – his younger sister
had it and died at an early age from a heart malformation. He saw his mother’s
heartbreak and does not want his wife to suffer the same fate. His wife is
unconscious at this point and he makes the quick decision to hand over his daughter
to a nurse, Caroline Gill (Watson) to be taken to a home. He then tells his
wife that their daughter died.
When the nurse goes to the home, she is so horrified by what
she encounters that she can’t leave the baby, instead choosing to move away and
raise her herself. The movie follows the two families over the course of the
next twenty years– the Henrys slow implosion as Dr. Henry suffers under the
weight of his secret and his wife never recovers from her grief of a daughter
lost, contrasted with the beauty of the growing Pheobe thriving under the care
of her adoptive mother.
While this movie is unrated, it is intended for older teens
and adults. While there are no sex scenes, adulterous relationships are part of
the story. The acting is also slightly uneven in parts. Nevertheless, the
pro-life message of this movie that all life is valuable and precious makes it
one worth watching. Gill’s fight to gain educational rights for her daughter is
also inspiring. She exhibits much faith and determination and works hard to
help her daughter become all that she can be.
The Memory Keeper’s
Daughter will foster much discussion and will definitely tug at your heart.
If you have not already seen it or read the book, I highly recommend adding it
to your “to-be-watched” list.
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