Caroline "Line" Found is the star volleyball player on the Iowa CityWest High School Volleyball Team and well-loved by members of the community. With Line as the captain, the Trojans have been undefeated and everyone has high hopes for West to win the championship again after the previous year, especially against their long-time rival, City High. During a party at her house, Line decides to secretly sneak away to visit her mother Ellyn at the hospital, where she is being treated for cancer. That night, Line herself is killed in a moped accident, leaving the entire community in mourning. Despite the school and community still in shock over Line's death, the Trojans' coach, Kathy Bresnahan continues to hold volleyball practice. She directly approaches Line's best friend, Kelley, encouraging her to return because Line would have wanted them to continue. Kelley refuses, but Bresnahan persists until Kelley agrees. After it is revealed that the Trojans lost their most recent match due to forfeit, Kelley encourages the entire school that they need to continue for Line's sake. West High struggles in practice and loses their first game badly, still discouraged from Line's death. Bresnahan begins to run the team through grueling drills until a teammate can serve to spot one. When Kelley succeeds, Bresnahan names her the new captain of the team. As the weeks go by, the team begins to win and becomes motivated to win the state championship for Line. Bresnahan informs the team they need to win all of their remaining games to be eligible for the state championship. The Trojans win their next fourteen games, giving them a chance to win the championship.
Before the state tournament begins, Kelley finds a gift from Line's father, Ernie, that encourages her not to play for Line or to win for her, but to "Live Like Line." At the state tournament, the Trojans win the quarter-final game with ease, but struggle to win their semi-final game. They move on to the championship, and have to go up against City High, who are heavily favored to win. City takes the lead early in the match, but West manages to tie the score and force the fifth and final game. The Trojans go on to win and capture the state championship again. As the crowd cheers, "Sweet Caroline" plays in honor of Line and Kelley holds Line's picture up high and proud.
Cast
Erin Moriarty as Kelley Fliehler, Caroline's best friend
Danika Yarosh as Caroline "Line" Found
Helen Hunt as Kathy Bresnahan, volleyball coach
William Hurt as Dr. Ernie Found, Caroline's father and Ellyn's husband
The film was originally titled Live Like Line. William Hurt and Helen Hunt joined the film in June 2016; Hunt and McNamara previously worked together on the similarly-themed film Soul Surfer. Filming took place in Vancouver, Canada.
Release
The Miracle Season premiered at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City, where the film is set, on March 18, 2018. It was released by LD Entertainment on April 6, 2018.
In the United States and Canada, The Miracle Season was released alongside A Quiet Place, Chappaquiddick and Blockers, and as projected to gross around $3 million from 1,707 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up debuting to $4.1 million, finishing 11th; 74% of its audience was female.
Critical response
On review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 51% based on 43 reviews, and an average rating of 5.63/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Miracle Season has a worthy real-life story to tell, but one-dimensional characters and aggressively maudlin storytelling undercut any emotional uplift." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
