Maise's Faith and Family Drama

Maise's Faith and Family Drama

Bruce Von Stiers

Maise is taking care of her little sister, Cricket, while their dad seems to have disappeared. A cop comes by, checking on them and looking for the dad. Seeing no one is taking care of the two girls, he talks about having them go into foster care. But they have an older brother, Finn, who just might be able to take care of them.

This is the beginning of the faith-based drama, Sugarhouse. It is a feature length film that stars several starting out actors.

Maise texts Finn who's on some kind of desert trek. Then a couple of nasty looking men show up at the farm looking for Gage, the girl's dad. They want something that supposedly belongs to them.

There are several instances of Maise praying in the film. One of them was when the men showed up and Maise prays to God to make them go away. These instances bring forth the strong faith element for the film.

In the meantime, Finn is still on his desert trek. Why won't he just stop the trek and come home? He finally comes home. But there is something not quite right about him being away. Later, on Halloween, Finn shows a side of himself that is not too nice.

Later the guys come back looking for their package, but Finn already had it and was going to leave with it.

From there, the film takes a few turns that aren't in the best interest of Maise and Cricket. Maise's dream of going to vet school seems too far a reach. Bills seem to be piling up and with no income, Maise feels she must get a job. Finn is doing something that might be illegal. Dad still hasn't shown up. Maise's pet donkey might be sick. And Cricket may have some serious health issues. But through it all, Maise doesn't lose her faith in God or her strong sense of family.

Things turn around a bit and the three of them, Finn, Maise and Cricket, begin to make syrup again in the family's sugarhouse. Which is what the family used to do before their mother died. And that's why the film was titled like it is. Then a series of revelations threaten to tear things apart, especially when their dad shows back up.

Throughout the film I couldn't help but feel sympathy for Maise. All she wants to do is keep her family together and have a better life. But life keeps throwing curveballs at her. She tries to stay strong but sometimes she just can't.

Aliva Roach is Maise. This film is her first IMDB listed screen credit. Tess Farrar is Cricket. This is her first film. Caleb Ebert is Finn. This is his first credited film.

Darren DeLoach is Maise's father, Gage. He appeared in Gone Girl and directed and starred in the short film Barabbas. Skully Shemwell and Scott Elsey played the two guys looking for whatever Gage had hidden. Shemwell co-starred in the horror film, Float Trip and The Precious and the Damned. Elsey has worked behind the camera as a sound designer and boom operator along with acting in a couple of films. Austin Saylor played Coob, a friend of Finn's. Roxanne Wellington played the counselor who dashed Maise's dreams of going to Vet school. She co-starred in the short drama films Goner and Erased.

Blaine Adams, Wyky Jean, Peighton Robinson, Brook Bollinger, Curt Buehler, Charlotte Craig, Olivia Wheeler, Naomi Rhodes and Carson Gihring all appear in the film.

The film was directed by Frederick C. Jones and Shirlee Wilson. They both wrote the screenplay for the film as well. Jones previously directed the documentary 18 Q Minus. Wilson also worked on 18 Q Minus and worked behind the scenes on Breaking Free. Jones and Wilson are a husband-and-wife production team.

The cinematographer was Adam Miller. He previously directed the short drama film, The Least of These.

Sugarhouse was filmed on location in southern Missouri, southern Utah and Northern Arizona.

Sugarhouse does a great job of portraying a teen girl struggling to keep her family together. Especially considering her mom has died some time ago, her dad has left and is maybe wanted by the police. Throw in a wayward older brother, a younger sister who might be having health issues and a sick pet donkey and anyone might buckle under. But Maise seems to persevere.

The acting in Sugarhouse was well done, especially as many of the actors have no listed acting credits. Alivia Roach is great as Maise, Tess Farrar does a good job as Cricket and Caleb Ebert plays his part well as the conflicted older brother, Flinn.

Sugarhouse won the Best Faith Feature award at the recent Santa Clarita International Film Festival.

Sugarhouse has a Facebook page where you can watch a trailer for the film and learn where you can see it. That page can be found at

https://www.facebook.com/sugarhousemovie

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