User Reviews

This film rivals a Charles Dickens novel in the extent of horror for young people placed in an orphanage. The so-called group home is called the Path Ahead Home, and it is closely connected to the convenient Loving Arms adoption agency, which traffics in selling babies on the black market. The Path Ahead home receives its babies courtesy of the orphans in residence.

The principal relationship is that of young Nicolette, a resident of the group home, who becomes pregnant and is counseled by her kind English teacher, Ms. Sandy Ridling. There was a nice arc of development of the bonding of the teacher and her student, and the result was an earnest exploration of family values.

The villains include a set of nefarious creatures with the unscrupulous Abigail, who is the head of the adoption agency. She is ably assisted by a cold-blooded killer named Kent. But the most Dickensian of all the characters is the deceitful, frumpy Rachel, who oversees the kids in the group home.

The film is worth watching for the final family scene that includes a very pregnant Ms. Ridling and her selfless husband Mark; Nicolette; her newborn baby boy; and the child's biological father Jake Hamilton. As Nicolette is triumphantly heading off to college, it is a challenge to sort out the various relationships. What is undeniably clear is that this is one big, happy family.