Director promotes faith-based film as a beacon of hope and healing in times of darkness

Emmy Award-winning film director and producer Kyle Portbury said the goal behind his latest film, The Hopeful, is to be a “bringer of hope and healing.”

The Hopeful opened in more than 900 theaters on Wednesday. The faith-based film is a historical drama set in 19th-century New England and based on the true story of preacher William Miller, who inspired the global movement of faith that led to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

“The world is a complicated, sometimes scary place, but I could be the bringer of hope and healing,” Portbury told the Washington Examiner. “I think we all want films like that at the moment, right? There’s enough darkness and kind of scary stuff in the actual physical world where we live without going and having to have that be the only option for our entertainment.”

“I wanted to create a work that can stand on its own, about people who anticipated something major — yet had to deal with the fallout when that didn’t pan out,” he said. “That’s a universal experience, not unique just to faith communities. Everyone has anticipated something only to see it not turn out like they imagined or dreamed it would.”

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Portbury collaborated with two-time Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Jonas Myrin, who wrote and performed two original songs for the film.

The Hopeful is slated to appear in theaters on Wednesday and Thursday, with some opting to extend its release.