Higher Ground
Vera Farmiga plays a leading role in her directorial debut about a Christian woman who questions her beliefs.
Directed by Vera Farmiga
***
The directorial debut from actress Vera Farmiga “breaks crucial, sacred ground in American moviemaking,” said Owen Gleiberman in Entertainment Weekly. The onetime Oscar nominee stars as a woman who sincerely “gives herself over to Christianity” but also “chafes at” some of the teachings of her evangelical church. Evangelical moviegoers might not be ready to embrace the character’s struggles as their own, but they have to be grateful to encounter a film that for once “insists on the deep normality of true believers.” Farmiga’s character is seen turning devout after she and her husband nearly lose a child in a traffic accident, but she experiences faith as most people do—“as a constant push and pull,” said Christopher Kelly in The Miami Herald. The film’s leisurely plotting affords Farmiga room to capture all the nuances of that journey, and she delivers the best performance by a lead actress so far this year. Higher Ground meanders; sometimes it “can feel like a rambling memoir set to film,” said Claudia Puig in USA Today. Yet Farmiga “never seems to strike a false note in any role.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Anne Hillerman's 6 favorite books with Native characters
Feature The author recommends works by Ramona Emerson, Craig Johnson, and more
-
How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic Party
Talking Points The candidate poses a challenge to the party's 'dinosaur wing'
-
Book reviews: '1861: The Lost Peace' and 'Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers'
Feature How America tried to avoid the Civil War and the link between lead pollution and serial killers