You don’t have to be a gun control fanatic to be horrified by the school shootings that seem to be a regular occurrence nowadays.

I mean, the thing with school is that, at a certain age, you’re pretty much forced to be there.  If you skip school, you could potentially get into a lot of trouble and, depending on where you live, your parents could get in a lot of trouble as well.  You’re not really given a choice about going to school so it’s not unreasonable to feel that you should at least be able to go to school without feeling like you’re going to die as a result.  Instead, children are now regularly subjected to active shooter drills and encouraged to snitch on any classmates who seem to be troubled.  Many are expected to start each day stepping through metal detectors while being eyeballed by security guards.  While I support the second amendment, I’m not particularly a huge fan of the idea of teachers being told to come to school armed so they can gun down any potential threats.  (Then again, when we have cops like the cowards in Uvalde, what choice do people have than to arm themselves?)  School shootings are a terrifying thing but what is even more terrifying is that people are starting to get used to type this violence.  It’s no longer an automatic shock to hear that there’s been a shooting at a school.  Often times, the incidents are in and out of the news within days.

2019’s The 3 is a film that deals with the aftermath of a school shooting.  One day, divorced dad Jimmy Collins (Jeff Armstrong) sends his daughter, Brittany (Kate Kilcoyne), out of the house and to school.  He barely even says goodbye to her.  A few hours later, Jimmy gets a call from ex-wife, Susan (Jessica Bell).  Jimmy thinks that Susan is calling to yell at him about a late alimony check but instead, she tells him to turn on the news.  There’s been a shooting at the school and, as we soon learn, Brittany is dead.

After the funeral, Jimmy wants to lock himself away from the world and basically drink himself into unconsciousness.  (He refuses the comfort of the local pastor, despite the fact that the pastor’s wife is played by Tina Wesson, the winner of the second season of Survivor.)  Instead, Jimmy is visited by three spirits.  The first spirit is Jimmy’s Dad (Darryl Worley), who talks about the events that led to him committing suicide and who essentially dares Jimmy to follow the same path.  The third spirit is …. well, he doesn’t give his name but the fact that he’s played by Jefferson Moore, the star of the Perfect Stranger series, should give the audience a clue as to who he is.  And, appearing in between these two, is Brittany.  Brittany talks about her short life and shares memories, both good and bad, with her father.  She also tells her father that he has to let go of her but, of course, neither Jimmy nor Susan can bring themselves to do that.

It’s a well-acted and effective film.  It’s certainly far more sensitive than you might expect from a film directed by the same guy who did Right to Believe.  It’s a film that explores the horror of everyday violence and which makes its theological case without coming across as being overly preachy.  That said, the film cheats a bit at the end, giving Jimmy an opportunity that doesn’t quite seem to go along with the film’s theme.  It allows the film to have a happy ending but it still feels a bit like a cop out.  That said, though, The 3 turned out to be far better than I was expecting.