The 2018 Australian film, Trust, tells the story of Daniel Rainwater (Keith Austring).

Daniel is an illustrator whose seemingly perfect life falls apart in just one day.  He loses his job and doesn’t even receive a severance package.  He discover that his wife (Lisa Carey) has been unfaithful and wants a divorce.  With no money coming in, he loses his home.  His children move in with his wife.  At one point, he develops a terrible rash on his face.  When he does get a new place to live, it’s a tiny apartment that is so cluttered and dusty that it looks like it should be on an episode of Hoarders.  When he gets a new car, he is involved in a terrible car crash and ends up breaking his leg in five different places.  When he finally gets the cast off, the first thing he does is fall flat on his face.  When he does get another job, he finds himself working in a warehouse….

Well, you get the idea.

At one point, one of Daniel’s friends informs him, “I think you’re going through a Job-like test.”

“Awesome,” Daniel replies.

Yes, Trust is yet another film based on the Book of Job but, as opposed to so many similar films, Trust actually has a sense of humor about itself.  Instead of resorting to melodrama, as so many other Job-inspired films do, Trust often finds the humor in Daniel’s various situations.  I mean, the guy just cannot catch a break.  Indeed, Daniel’s problems can often just as easily be ascribed to him having terrible luck as they could to an wager between God and Lucifer.  Daniel is the type whose laptop dies right before he needs to use it.  He’s the type who always locks his keys in his car.  He’s the type who gets drenched by a sudden rainstorm.  Daniel has a lot to deal with and he frequently gets discouraged but he never gives up and, as played by Keith Austring, it’s hard not to like him.

Yes, it’s based on the Book of Job and Job is a Rorschach test for how one feels about the idea of being tested.  Many see the book as a celebration of faith in the face of adversity.  Others see it and wonder why poor Job and his family (the majority of whom ended up dying) had to be put through so much for just a wager.  Trust avoids a lot of the issues inherent in the Job narrative by making Daniel’s problem more down-to-earth.  Daniel may have to move out of the house and he may not get to see his children as much as he likes but at least they aren’t killed by a plague.  Though Daniel eventually finds peace with all of his problems and realizes that they’ve helped to make him a stronger man and a better father, the film itself never feel preachy.  Trust is a well-directed and well-acted film, one that understands the importance of humor and humanity.