Edward Simmons

Some will say A Hidden Life is a film about resistance in the face of tyranny, or that it is a film about staying true to "whatever you believe in" no matter the cost, or that it is a panegyric to hard work, or that it is a film about the bucolic simplicity of life in an Austrian farming village befouled by the cancerous influence of fascist ideology. However, I'm not so clever. To be sure, one may find it in this film as much or as little as one brings to it. For me, A Hidden Life is nothing less then a meditation on the power of God to choose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and what is weak in the world to shame the strong. At the film's center is an unvarnished message of the Gospel in the face of evil; for to all those who hope in Christ alone for their salvation, and who long for his appearing, the film triumphantly reminds us that it was our savior who said, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."