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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unplanned

https://www.comingsoon.it/film/unplanned-la-storia-vera-di-abby-johnson/56264/scheda/

Unplanned è un film drammatico americano del 2019 scritto e diretto da Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman,^[1] basato sul libro autobiografico Unplanned di Abby Johnson. Il film segue la vita della Johnson (Ashley Bratcher), da direttrice di una clinica di Planned Parenthood all'adesione al movimento pro-life.

La prima proiezione negli Stati Uniti è stata il 29 marzo 2019. Il titolo provvisorio del film era Redeemed, e i dettagli del soggetto furono tenuti segreti al pubblico il più possibile per evitare eventuali azioni legali da parte della potente organizzazione Planned Parenthood. Alcuni canali televisivi americani si rifiutarono di trasmettere gli spot per il film a causa del soggetto.

Il film ha incassato oltre 21 milioni di dollari nel mondo, a fronte di un budget di 6 milioni.^[2]

Il film segue fedelmente la trama del libro omonimo^[3]. The film opens with a depiction of Johnson's home life with her husband, Doug, and daughter, Grace. In voice-over, Abby Johnson says she was tricked into participating with Planned Parenthood and the scene shifts to a time in 2009 when she claims she was asked to assist in an ultrasound-guided suction aspiration abortion at thirteen weeks gestation. The scene ends with Abby leaving in tears.^[4][5] Johnson then describes, in voice over, that her story started her junior year at Texas A&M. The scene is depicted in flashback of a Planned Parenthood booth at a career fair. Johnson agrees to volunteer after the representative in the booth says to her that their ultimate goal was to reduce the number of abortions.^[4] As a clinic escort, she meets director Cheryl and witnesses anti-abortion protesters being verbally confrontational towards the women going in.^[6] One protester, Marilisa, is depicted as being kinder to women than the other protestors and says that those from her organization, "Coalition for Life", are "not here to hurt them or condemn them".^[4][6]

A flashback within a flashback then happens to when Abby had her two abortions, the first as a college student and the second after she marries then divorces.^[4][7] During the second abortion, for $400.00, she is given mifepristone at the clinic and is told there will be "a little bleeding", but the experience is depicted as being excruciatingly painful, over twelve hours and then followed up with "eight weeks of blood clots and excruciating cramps" causing her to fear for her life.^[4][6]

The film then cuts back to Abby's continuing work at the clinic, and she recounts in voice-over that it became "my career, despite the disapproval of virtually everyone in my life". The film flashes forward to her second marriage to Doug, a man who proclaims love while, like her parents, disapproving of her career on religious and moral grounds.^[8] Abby describes starting her life with Doug and attending a church with him that is decidedly opposed to abortion even while she continues to work at Planned Parenthood.

Abby becomes pregnant by Doug and decides to keep it. In the meantime, a scene is depicted of a botched abortion taking place at the clinic where Abby is told not to call an ambulance because of the way it would "look".^[8][9] Abby gives birth to Grace and is promoted to director when Cheryl is transferred to Houston. Before Hurricane Ike strikes, Abby coordinates all of the abortions to happen beforehand, anticipating that it won't be possible to perform the procedures for a while after the hurricane. Abby wins Employee of the Year while also being told by Cheryl that she should double the number of abortions. Cheryl explains that "Non-profit is a tax status, not a business model!",^[10] and says the organization makes its money off of abortions the way that fast food restaurants make money off fries and soda.^[4][8][11] Abby is scolded for objecting to this, and then eventually reprimanded by Cheryl for insubordination after which the first few moments of the film are repeated just prior to Abby's participation in the procedure.

Abby is then depicted going to the office of 40 Days for Life, run by Marilisa and her husband, Shawn, and tearfully telling them that she cannot stay in her job after what she has seen. They offer to help her find employment.^[5] Abby formally resigns from Planned Parenthood and begins to help with the 40 Days for Life campaign, to the point of being on the other side of the clinic fence encouraging women not to go through with their abortions.^[7] Planned Parenthood sues Abby for leaking confidential information about their operations, and Shawn convinces his laid-back lawyer friend Jeff to defend her.^[5][8]

In 2013, when the clinic Abby worked at has closed, she organizes a celebration at the abandoned building in which she expresses regret for performing abortions as well as having two.^[7] The closing captions say that Abby continues to work with the ministry "And Then There Were None", helping other abortion clinic workers leave and find employment elsewhere.^[4][7]

Abby Johnson (Ashley Bratcher) è una giovane ragazza al primo anno di college. Un giorno incappa in uno stand di Planned Parenthood (una delle più grandi catene statunitensi di cliniche abortiste) nel campus e nonostante i suoi valori pro-life, si fa convincere a diventare una volontaria, poiché affascinata dal discorso che le fanno sul voler ridurre il numero di aborti. Una volta laureata, viene assunta come accompagnatrice delle donne che desiderano abortire (per "proteggerle" dai manifestanti pro-life che fuori della clinica cercano di dissuaderle) e nel 2008 diventa responsabile di una clinica a Bryan, in Texas.

A settembre dell'anno successivo, un fatto cambia per sempre la sua vita. Un giorno c'è carenza di personale nella struttura in cui lavora, quindi viene chiamata ad assistere il medico durante un aborto di una donna incinta alla tredicesima settimana. Mentre effettua l'ecografia, in modo che il dottore possa muoversi con l'aspiratore all'interno dell'utero, Abby vede chiaramente il bambino, perfettamente formato, che si contorce convulsamente cercando di sfuggire alla cannula che ha il compito di risucchiarlo. Non può fare a meno di pensare a sua figlia e ai due aborti volontari avuti al tempo dell'università, a come si sia illusa e a come sia stata ingannata su ciò che avviene realmente durante questa brusca interruzione della gravidanza. In lacrime, cerca l'aiuto di una volontaria pro-life incontrata anni prima, Marilisa (Emma Roberts), e con cui è rimasta in contatto, che insieme al marito dirige un'associazione a favore della vita. Abby decide di licenziarsi da Planned Parenthood e inizia a lavorare insieme a loro come volontaria.

L'organizzazione abortista la denuncia per aver rivelato informazioni confidenziali sui protocolli interni, ma quest'azione ha un sorprendente effetto boomerang che dà enorme risonanza alla storia di Abby. La notorietà della donna aumenta, anche per il comportamento intimidatorio e scorretto della Planned Parenthood, che tenta di screditare l'ex dipendente e di convincerla a smettere di raccontare della sua esperienza nella clinica.

In primo luogo, viene smascherata la menzogna degli abortisti. Nel film viene raccontato come la giovane Abby Johnson sia stata letteralmente “adescata” e traviata da Planned Parenthood ad uno stand allestito dal colosso anti-natalista presso il suo liceo. Ad Abby, fortemente indecisa nelle sue convinzioni, viene fatto credere che lo scopo di Planned Parenthood sia quello di istruire le ragazze a un corretto uso della contraccezione e che, in fondo, l’aborto sia l’extrema ratio da consentire ma, al tempo stesso, da limitare. Entrata a far parte di Planned Parenthood, prima come volontaria, Abby diventa poi impiegata, per essere infine promossa a direttrice della clinica di Bryan (Texas). Anno dopo anno, tuttavia, scopre di essere ingannata: il reale obiettivo di Planned Parenthood è quello praticare il maggior numero di aborti possibili, per una mera questione di business. Abby stessa passa personalmente attraverso l’esperienza dell’aborto, ripetuta due volte. Il secondo episodio è il più drammatico: assunta la pillola abortiva, la giovane va incontro a copiose emorragie e teme di morire. Si adira, quindi, con i suoi stessi colleghi, che non l’avevano avvisata degli effetti collaterali ma questa esperienza non è ancora sufficiente a farle cambiare idea sul suo lavoro.

Il secondo messaggio forte del film è riferito al connubio luciferino tra aborto, denaro, potere e carriera. Abby Jonson ha bruciato le tappe e, dopo circa otto anni di servizio in Planned Parenthood, viene premiata come miglior dipendente della sua azienda. Un’obiezione posta in merito all’opportunità di limitare il numero degli aborti, la porta a scontrarsi con la sua superiore, che prima la accusa di ingratitudine, poi le svela la verità: l’aborto è il core business di Planned Parenthood e, grazie ad esso, Abby può concedersi qualche sfizio in più, dai viaggi alle ferie pagate. Le viene quindi svelata un’altra ipocrisia: per Planned Parenthood lo status di onlus è soltanto un “regime fiscale” nominale, il vero obiettivo è lucrare il più possibile sugli aborti, sottoponendo le sfortunate clienti a deplorevoli trattative, neanche si trattasse di una polizza assicurativa: più tardi effettui il tuo aborto e più dovrai pagare, ecc.

Il terzo e forse più importante messaggio è quello della misericordia: Abby Johnson ha avuto la grazia di vivere circondata da persone che, senza giudicarla, non le hanno mai nascosto il desiderio di una sua conversione. Sia i genitori che il marito sono cristiani e pro-life e attendono con incredibile e commovente pazienza il giorno in cui Abby annuncerà il suo licenziamento da Planned Parenthood. Altre due splendide figure nella vicenda sono Marilisa e Shawn, una coppia di giovani pro-life, che si reca a pregare quotidianamente davanti alla clinica. Superata l’inevitabile diffidenza iniziale, Abby diventa amica dei due e il giorno in cui “crollerà” definitivamente i primi che andrà a cercare saranno loro.

Several outlets—including Variety,^[12] The Globe and Mail,Template:R The Guardian,^[10] and the Toronto Sun—described the film as "propaganda."

The New York Times reported on an evaluation of the film's first scene:

In that first scene, teased in the trailer and on posters as "the moment that changed everything", Abby, played by Bratcher, witnesses an ultrasound-guided termination of a pregnancy at 13 weeks. The ultrasound, as depicted onscreen, shows a fetus with a discernible head, torso and limbs frantically squirming away from a doctor's probe — an action that Abby later describes as "twisting and fighting for its life" — before being liquefied by suction.

Given a description of this scene, Jennifer Villavicencio, a fellow with the nonpartisan American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists who performs ultrasound-guided abortions but has not seen the film, said that while an ultrasound of a 13-week-old fetus may show a visible head and body, the notion that it would be "fighting for its life" is misleading.

"If you watch an ultrasound, certainly there is movement, but it's not kicking its legs or recoiling", said Villavicencio. She noted broad scientific consensus that fetuses cannot experience pain, and therefore would not recoil from it, until well after 13 weeks. "There is no neurological capability for awareness of danger — that part of the brain is simply not there yet", she said.^[13]

Villavicencio explained to the HuffPost that most abortions last three to ten minutes and are "well tolerated".^[14]

The film has been criticized for uncritically portraying events as Johnson claims they occurred in spite of a variety of journalists casting doubt on the veracity of her account.^{[15][16][17][18]} Johnson stated that the patient whose abortion led to her decision to leave Planned Parenthood was a black woman. However, based on reporting by Texas Monthly (which relied on Planned Parenthood clinic records), only one patient served by Johnson's then-employer on September 26, 2009 was black, and she was in the sixth week—not the 13th week—of her pregnancy.

The film depicts Planned Parenthood as promoting abortion for the sake of profit.^[19] A character, Cheryl (Robia Scott), claims that Planned Parenthood makes its money off of abortions the way that fast food restaurants make money by selling French fries and soda.^[4][8][11]

Anna North of Vox criticized the film for depicting abortion as very dangerous, noting that it's significantly safer than childbirth.

In September 2018, it was announced that principal photography on a new Pure Flix film with a working title of Redeemed had been completed. Out of fear for potential protests due to the subject matter, everyone involved with the project signed a confidentiality agreement, whereby they agreed not to engage in social media posts about the film nor any press interaction.^[20] Additionally, the film was secretly shot in Stillwater, Oklahoma.^[21][22]

Basato sull'omonima autobiografia della Johnson,^[23] Unplanned è stato prodotto con un budget di 6 milioni di dollari.^[24]

Directors Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon sent a draft of their script to Johnson for review. Upon reading, Johnson reacted, "I read the script. And in the first 15 pages, I hated me. Then I got to the end of the script, and I loved it. It was me!"^[20] During casting, producers warned potential cast members that their participation in the film might result in their not getting future roles in the film industry due to the film's subject matter.^[20] Unlike the upcoming Roe v. Wade – which had some crew who quit once they learned of the film's subject matter – Unplanned did not suffer from the same fate since those involved knew about the film's focus when hired.^[24]

La colonna sonora è stata pubblicata il 22 marzo 2019, con la traccia eponima eseguita da Matthew West^[25]. Blake Kanicka, il supervisore musicale del film, aveva contattato senza successo una serie di artisti e di maggiori case discografiche: illoro rifiuto derivava con ogni probabilità dalle possibili controversie legate all'argomento.^[26]. Fra le canzoni per cui non sono stati concessi i diritti: "How to Save a Life" (The Fray), "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" (Cyndi Lauper), "Story of My Life" (One Direction), "Dead Man's Party" (Oingo Boingo) e "The Guardian Suite" (Trevor Rabin).^[27]

Unplanned was released in the United States on March 29, 2019.^[28] The film received a pre-screening on February 21, 2019, in lower Manhattan,^[29] and again on March 28, 2019, in Indiana, one day before its release date.^[30]

La MPAA indicò a sorpresa per Unplanned il rating "R" ("Restricted", cioè solo per maggiori di 17 anni) indicando nella motivazione le scene legati agli aborti, e confermando che non avrebbe concesso variazioni a meno che queste scene fossero rimosse.^[21][31] (They denied assigning the rating due to political bias.^[31]) Pure Flix, which had been expecting a PG-13 rating, decided not to contest the MPAA's action due to concerns that such conflict may delay the film's release.^[21]

In response to the film's rating, the MPAA was sent a complaint signed by twenty-nine people uninvolved in the production of the film. The signers include former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, political commentator Glenn Beck, actor Kevin Sorbo, and Academy Award-winning film producers Gerald R. Molen and Gray Frederickson.^[28][32] Despite this, the MPAA did not revoke the rating, saying that "[t]he filmmakers did not make use of the rating appeal process."^[32]

Johnson subsequently wrote an open letter addressed to parents, stating that the film contained no nudity, sex or profanity.^[33] A second open letter, signed by the same twenty-nine people from the MPAA complaint, encouraged faith communities to ignore the R rating and turn out for the film as they did for The Passion of the Christ.^[34][35][36]

Many media outlets declined to air advertising for the film on account of the controversial subject matter and/or the film's R rating, including Google, A&E Networks, Discovery, Inc., Hallmark Channel, NBCUniversal, and Christian radio network K-Love.^[37][38] Google also listed the film as "drama/propaganda" in search results for a period of time. Only Fox News, who also did editorial coverage of the production,^[39] and the Christian Broadcasting Network agreed to air ads.^[37]

During the opening weekend, its official Twitter account was suspended (reportedly because it was linked to another account that violated Twitter's code of conduct). It was soon reinstated, gaining thousands of additional followers within several hours, with the follower count briefly appearing to shoot up as high as 200,000.^[40][41] Twitter was then accused of dropping followers of the film's account from over 200,000 to approximately 16,000.^[42] Senator Josh Hawley accused Twitter of censoring conservative views, and in a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, requested that an outside independent audit be made into Twitter's speech policies. Twitter responded and "said follower counts can often take up to 24 hours to stabilize following a suspension and that any issues with page follows should also be resolved shortly"; the next day, according to Newsweek, "the official account for the film appeared to confirm Twitter's statement" in a tweet.^[41]

Mark Cavaliere, an executive director of a local Coalition for Life,^[43] dressed in a 40 Days for Life shirt like those seen in the film and recruited volunteers at some showings.^[36]

No distributors in Canada were initially interested in the film, which prevented movie theaters from picking it up. In June 2019, the small distribution company Cinedicom agreed to make it available to the Canadian market, its president stating the decision to distribute the film was based on divine inspiration. The producers accused Canada's dominant movie theater chain Cineplex Entertainment of effectively banning the film in the country by not showing it in its theaters. However, the company's usual practice is to only consider filmsif their distributor presents a marketing plan and obtains a rating from a provincial ratings board.^[44][45]

Cineplex later reversed its decision, opting to screen the film in 14 locations. The competing chain Landmark Cinemas also screened the film at 10 locations.^[46] On July 12, 2019, the film took in $352,000 on its opening weekend on 56 screens across Canada for a per-screen average of around $7,100.^[47][48] Unplanned made $643,000 CAD at the Canadian box office.^[47]

Unplanned premiered exclusively in SM Supermalls cinemas in the Philippines on August 21, 2019.^[49] Felicidad Tan-Sy, the widow of SM founder Henry Sy, cried during its local premiere and stated that "Every Filipino, every person needs to see this movie."^[50]

L'anteprima in Italia è stata l'8 luglio 2021 al multisala Adriano di Roma e ha fatto registrare un sold out. I dati Cinetel hanno certificato che Unplanned è stata la pellicola più vista d’Italia in una sola sala in quel giorno^[51].

Il film è in programmazione a partire dal 28 settembre 2021, distribuito da Dominus Production.

Il film è distribuito nella sua versione censurata e ne è comunque stata vietata la visione ai minori di 14 anni. La fondatrice e amministratrice delegata di Dominus Production, Federica Picchi, ha annunciato il suo ricorso al Ministero della cultura; si sono associati a questa richiesta i ginecologi Filippo Maria Boscia, presidente dell’Associazione Medici Cattolici Italiani, e Giuseppe Noia, presidente dell’Associazione Italiana Ginecologi Ostetrici Cattolici.

Unplanned è stato distribuito in DVD e Blu-ray negli Stati Uniti nell'agosto del 2019. La prevendita online ha registrato 235.000 acquisti, posizionandosi al numero 1 di Amazon.^[52]

Il film ha incassato oltre 21 milioni di dollari nel mondo, a fronte di un budget di 6 milioni.^[2]

In the United States, Unplanned was released alongside The Beach Bum and Dumbo, and based upon tracking was projected to gross $3–5 million from 1,060 theaters its opening weekend.^[53] The film made $3 million on its first day, including $700,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $6.4 million, exceeding box office projections and finishing 4th at the box office,^[54] marking the second-best opening for a Pure Flix film behind God's Not Dead 2 ($7.6 million in 2016); the film played best in conservative-leaning states in the Midwest and South. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+".^[55] Deadline Hollywood said the opening was "remarkable considering that the film was rated R [and was] boxed out from running TV spots on most major cable networks and Christian radio."^[56][57] It was reported that churches across the country had bought out entire screenings for the picture.^[58] In its second weekend the film was added to 456 additional theaters (for a total of 1,516) and made $3.2 million.^[59]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 42% based on 26 reviews, with an average rating of 5.70/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A dramatic approach to a hot-button topic whose agenda is immediately clear, Unplanned will only reinforce the feelings of viewers on either side of the issue."^[60] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 10 out of 100, based on seven critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".^[61] Writing for the National Catholic Reporter, Rose Pacatte said that "Unplanned is an important film, a designation that directors hate to hear. It is not entertaining (until the cheesy lawyer shows up) but tells an emotional story with wide-ranging implications."^[62] The Deseret News's Josh Terry wrote that the film "...may not bridge the divide between the different sides of the abortion issue, but it will provide some food for thought for the undecideds", ultimately concluding that "Unplanned has room for praise and criticism."^[63]

In contrast, The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck criticized Unplanned as "proselytizing agitprop" comparable to a "basic cable television movie in its mediocre production values and subpar performances".^[8] Similarly, Owen Gleiberman of Variety said the film "isn't good drama but it's effective propaganda" ^[4] and The A.V. Club's Vadim Rizov stated that "[while Unplanned] has greater technical finesse than its foundational forebears...[,] there's not a single scene that speaks to characters with lives outside their streamlined narrative function; they're performers in a parable traced over a Chick tract, filmed with a bland competence at odds with the true perversity of the material".^[64]

The Canadian news industry was generally critical of Unplanned. The Globe and Mail,^[65] the Ottawa Citizen^[66] and the Toronto Sun^[67] all described the film as dishonest religious, social, and political propaganda. However, Christian news programs such as 100 Huntley Street,^[68] The Faytene Show and Salt + Light Hour^[69] were supportive of it.

Luke Thompson, in Forbes, notes the heavily political nature of the film, which "naturally, drops the name of George Soros and claims the nonprofit is one of the most powerful organizations on the planet...as opposed to, say, a political punching bag constantly in danger of being defunded".^[70]

Poco prima dell'uscita nelle sale, un comunicato della divisione americana di Planned Parenthood stabilì che il film diceva il falso.^[37]

• Aborto
• The Silent Scream, documentario di Bernard Nathanson (1984)