Faith-Based Film Breakthrough Opens Top 3 in the Box Office and Wins Over Critics, Too

The faith-based film Breakthrough reached hit status its opening weekend, opening in the Top 3 and grossing more than $11 million. It even won over mainstream critics.

The PG-rated movie tells the story of a boy who was thought dead after he plunged through an icy pond and didn’t have a pulse for 45 minutes. But when his mother began praying at the hospital, his heart started beating again.

Breakthroughgrossed $11.2 million on opening weekend, trailing only The Curse of La Llorona($26.3 million) and Shazam! ($16.4 million). Its per-theater average($3,995) ranked No. 2. 

Audiences gave it an “A” CinemaScore rating. 

Mainstream critics also liked Breakthrough– a rare feat for a faith-based film. At the aggregate site RottenTomatoes.com, 64 percent of critics rated it as “fresh.” Only eight other faith films have reached “fresh” status, according to Crosswalk.com.

Katie Walsh of the Los Angeles TimessaidBreakthrough is “one of the more authentically moving entries in the genre, fueled by a gripping lead performance from This Is Us star Chrissy Metz.”

G. Allen Johnson of the San Francisco Chronicle said Breakthrough“might be the first faith-based Hollywood film with genuine crossover appeal.”

Bilge Ebiri of The New York Times also liked it, writing, “You don’t have to believe in divine intervention to be…