5000 Blankets (2022)

Simply put, 5000 Blankets is the feel-good movie of the year. The film follows the true story of Cyndi Saunders (Anna Camp) and her son Phillip. Cyndi is left to take care of herself and her son when her husband has a mental breakdown and goes missing. However, Cyndi doesn’t give up on her husband, and her search to find him leads her and her son to the homeless shelters and communities around Fort Worth, Texas. In the process, Phillip suggests that they get blankets for the homeless. It is a pretty straightforward film, but it has a powerful message. It also does a good job of illustrating how we train ourselves to overlook the homeless and those in need. But they are still people who have just fallen on hard times, and we have a collective responsibility to help them, even if it is just in a small or simple way. Anna Camp is one of my favorite actors, and she is amazing in this film. She really does an amazing job of playing a character who is struggling to do the right thing while still being in an unfortunate situation. I also love how this film humanized the homeless population of Texas. The movie is based on a true story, but there are a couple of times I felt it was dramatizing things a bit, and there were a few times the kid who played Phillip struggled with his lines. But overall, he did an excellent job for a kid, and these are a couple of minor issues I had. Overall, I thought it was a great movie, and I walked out of the theater wanting to make the world a better place. Watch it and think about what you can do to improve your community.