Bless the Child is a 2000 American thriller/horror film directed by Chuck Russell. It is based on a novel written by Cathy Cash Spellman.

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Plot

The story begins with Maggie O'Connor (Kim Basinger) a New York nurse meeting her sister Jenna (Angela Bettis) and Jenna's autistic daughter Cody (Holliston Coleman), who is merely days old when we're first introduced to her, at Maggie's apartment. This was somewhat of a surprise, since Jenna, a drug addict, had been missing for a couple of years. When Maggie steps out of the room, Jenna disappears again, leaving Cody behind. Maggie decides to raise Cody on her own.

After six years, Cody is in a Roman Catholic school for autistic children. Jenna comes back, this time with her new husband Eric Stark (Rufus Sewell), and they abduct Cody. FBI agent John Travis (Jimmy Smits) is already investigating several cases of missing children who were all born on the same date, and starts an investigation of this abduction as well when he realized that Cody has the same birth date as the other missing children. Meanwhile, Cody has begun to manifest strange powers, such as causing stationary objects to spin, and at one point she also brings a bird back to life, much to her class-mates' fascination.

The abduction of young Cody was more than just a mother wanting her child back. Her husband Eric, a former child star, is the head of "New Dawn," a cult which is trying to find a special child born on December 16th, 1993 -- the same day as the return of the Bethlehem star 2000 years ago. Maggie meets Cheri Post (Christina Ricci), a member of the cult who wanted out, but was instead almost killed with a drug overdose by the cult members. Cheri informs Maggie that New Dawn is a cult of Satan worship, and that they plan on using Cody's powers for the dark side, and if they can't turn her, then they will sacrifice her. Cheri is soon punished for leaking information, and is chased down and decapitated.

Eventually, a satanic ritual is to take place, in order to make Cody join the dark side. Maggie and agent Travis come to rescue her. As the place is burning, Agent Travis shoots and kills Eric, while heavenly beings protect Cody. Maggie sacrifices her own life when saving Cody from being shot. Maggie is brought back to life by God's powers working through Cody. At the end, Maggie, Cody, and Agent Travis go to church. One of Eric's followers tries to kill Cody. She turns around and gives him a look. He drops his knife and runs away. The three walk toward the church giving the movie its happy ending.

Symbolism

Some critics have perceived Bless the Child as mocking Scientology. In the film, the fictionalized cult "The New Dawn" mimics Scientology's symbols and rhetoric. ^[1]

Awards

The film was nominated for one Razzie Award, Worst Actress for Kim Basinger (also for I Dreamed of Africa ).

References

1. Spawn of Hollywood