Now streaming exclusively on PureFlix.com, The Advocate reassures us that there are good people in the world who only want to do what is necessary to protect the most vulnerable, namely children in peril.
Sculpted as a five-part mini-series, The Advocate flows from the heart and mind of Catholic writer-director, Nicole Abisinio. Working as a feature film producer, Abisinio, cognizant of the power of film stories, made a couple of career switches, first to making her own independent features, then to family and faith features. Click here for The Advocate's page on PureFlix.
The Advocate follows Amber Charles (Abisinio), an investigator with Child Protective Services (CPS). After a near-death experience, she's developed an ability to know when someone needs her help through dream-like visions. She works closely with Detective Chuck Coleman (Chris Lindsay) from the Human Trafficking division of the local police force.
Nicole Abisinio and Chris Lindsay in "The Advocate." © 2023 Pure Flix. All Rights Reserved.
The audience gets to know Amber a year after the experience that changed her life. She's still processing her new "gift" but is lucky to have people in her life that support her, including her boyfriend, Chris (Jim E. Chandler). After the psychologist who treats her determines she's mentally sound, she still needs some guidance.
Sitting outside the local Catholic church, she strikes up a conversation with the gardener who's tending to the flowerbeds only to find out he is the pastor. Father Eli (David Sanborn) becomes a confidante for Amber as she deals with the heartbreaking situations she encounters in her job.
One of her cases is Hannah (Ada Kingsbury), a little girl who sports a black eye when Amber goes to check on her after one of her visions. She knows she needs to get Hannah out of her home situation, but she has no proof that Hannah's injury comes from physical violence and not just a playground scuffle. Being dedicated to keeping children safe, Amber wastes no time in advancing her investigation.
Ada Kingsbury and Nicole Abisinio in "The Advocate." © 2023 Pure Flix. All Rights Reserved.
The wonderful thing about this series is that each episode offers safety and prevention tips within the course of the story. For example, one episode highlights Snapchat's Map feature which allows anyone to know exactly Snapchat user is in real time. This feature can be and has been used by predators to track potential trafficking victims. The map feature is a default on Snapchat and must be manually turned off by the user.
While family friendly, the series deals with serious subject matter and isn't for young children. However, some episodes when viewed with age-appropriate audiences, could provide a safe place to begin a meaningful conversation between parents and teens or children about, not only internet safety, but the importance of always keeping lines of communication open with trusted adults if a child ever feels threatened or uncomfortable.
There is evil in the world that causes people to hit children or abuse them or take them for sex trafficking. The Advocate finds a creative and inspiring way to give courage to all work tirelessly to prevent this harm as much as they are able.
Click here for the trailer.
About the Author
Sister Hosea Rupprecht is a member of the Daughters of St. Paul, a religious community dedicated to evangelization with the media. She holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto and an MA in Media Literacy from Webster University in St. Louis.
Sr. Hosea is director of the East Coast office of the Pauline Center for Media Studies, based in Staten Island, NY, and speaks on media literacy and faith to catechists, parents, youth, and young adults. Together with Father Chip Hines, she is the co-host of Searchlight, a Catholic movie review show on Catholic TV. Sr. Hosea is the author of How to Watch Movies with Kids: A Values-Based Strategy, released by Pauline Books & Media.
For the past 15 years, she has facilitated various film dialogues for both children and adults, as well as given presentations on integrating culture, faith and media.