This is a fictional love story with the 1856 Handcart Pioneers as the backdrop. Sam Hunter, falls for a Mormon Pioneer woman, Abigail, as she is moving west. As the pioneers stop in his town of Iowa City, he pretends to desire joining the Mormon Church to show his love for Abigail. As hardships prevail, his faith is tested on their way to Zion.
Production
Low-budget pioneer authenticity that somehow makes freezing look real.
Writing
RARE: a faith film where doubt gets actual screen time.
Director
Kels Goodman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Martin Handcart Company departed Iowa City in July 1856, dangerously late. Winter caught them in Wyoming. Over 200 died. This film is basically a disaster movie where God is the weather.
Mormon cinema has a complicated relationship with the handcart narrative—it's simultaneously sacred founding myth and trauma tourism. This 2002 indie tries to thread that needle by making the protagonist an outsider, letting skeptical viewers in.
US
