On March 20, Hollywood brought its magic to St. Louis for the premiere of 20th Century Fox’s new film, “Breakthrough,” which is based on real-life events that happened in St. Charles County.
Four years ago, on January 15, 2015, then 14-year-old John Smith fell through the ice of Lake St. Louis while playing with his friends. For 15 minutes, he was underwater. He was rescued, and taken to the hospital, but did not have a heartbeat for 45 minutes.
The doctors, nurses, and medical technicians did all they could do to save him. By all accounts, he was deceased. The hospital staff grieved as his mother, Joyce Smith, arrived at the hospital to view his lifeless body. However, this was not the end of John’s story. Joyce prayed for him, and he immediately came back to life, making a full recovery 16 days later.
“God has blessed my life in so many ways,” John Smith said. “I just want to remember where I come from and remember to give God all the glory my whole life.”
The film, opening in theaters this Easter, is based on the book Joyce Smith authored and published n 2017, “The Impossible,” which tells John’s story through Joyce’s perspective.
“This isn’t a fairy tale. This really happened. God did give me back my son when I asked for him,” Joyce Smith said. “I love it that this is going around the world for people to see.”
In the film, Chrissy Metz (Kate Pearson in the hit NBC TV show “This is Us”) plays Joyce and Marcel Ruiz (Alex Alvarez in Netflix’s “One Day at a Time”) plays John. Joyce’s husband Brian is played by Josh Lucas (“Sweet Home Alabama”) and their pastor, Jason Noble, is portrayed by Topher Grace (“Spider-Man 3”).
“[Being a part of this project has] been overwhelmingly wonderful for so many reasons,” Metz said. “We get to portray real people who have gone through a real-life miracle. To honor that and the responsibility in that has been challenging, but as actors that’s what you always want.”
“Working with Chrissy was really fun, and I learned a lot from her,” Ruiz added. “Seeing how the whole cast, the whole crew came together to build this story and make it as real as possible … getting to portray this family and the story of the Smiths, was really fun to film.”
“Breakthrough” is produced by DeVon Franklin (“Miracles from Heaven”; “The Star”) and is the feature film directorial debut for Roxann Dawson (“The Chi”; ‘The Americans”), who is also an actor (“Star Trek: Voyager”) and producer (“Scandal”).
“Everyone feels directly connected to this story in a personal way, in addition to professionally,” Franklin said. “Anyone can take a job, because you’re a professional and you’re paid to do something. For each one of us involved, it’s more than that.”
During the afternoon of the movie’s premiere, John, his family and Pastor Noble met the first responders who saved his life at the lake where it all happened. The Mayor of Lake St. Louis, Kathy Schweikert, officiated a ceremony to declare March 20 “Breakthrough Day” in the city, presenting a plaque to John and Joyce Smith.
That evening, John’s family, friends, the Lake St. Louis police and fire departments, and St. Louis community attended the red-carpet premiere at the Marcus Des Peres Theatre. There, they had a chance to screen the film and talk to the real-life people about what it has been like to see themselves and their part in John’s story on the big screen. Everyone was eager to hear how they hope the film impacts audiences.
“[We want them to take away] the power of the community, the power of prayer,” said Dawson. “I think the last song in this film is Carrie Underwood’s ‘Love Wins,’ and that’s what the movie is about – is that ultimately, love wins.”
“Breakthrough” will be released nationwide on Wednesday, April 17.
Sharee Silerio is a writer, director, producer and blogger. When she isn’t creating for The Root or Curly Nikki, she enjoys sharing her journey to discover wisdom, become whole and fulfill her dreams at SincerelySharee.com. Take a peek into her #BlackGirlMagic via ShareeSilerio.com then connect with her on Facebook, Instagram andTwitter.
