Film Review: The Drop Box Film

At any given moment somewhere in the world, a mother will abandon her child. There are any number of reasons why this happens, but the end result is tragic, as unwanted infants and newborns are ditched in the street and left to die. In South Korea, over 200 infants were abandoned all over Seoul in 2013. In the absence of any kind of government-run method for accommodating these lost babies, one pastor takes it upon himself to set up a "drop box" for people to leave their unwanted babies, and he takes it from there.

This is definitely news-worthy subject matter that deserves awareness and debate. Controversy exists regarding the morality and responsibility of parents utilizing this system, but the film doesn't spend much time exploring that. The film's focus is simply on the fact that a baby drop box exists, and the film divulges into a more intimate look at pastor Lee Jong-rak and the 15 children he's taken in (among the hundreds he received through the drop box, which are passed to social services). It is quite the sentimental presentation that will flash nonstop baby pictures at you with sappy music in an effort to reach into your chest and yank your heartstrings. However, the film is not all fluff; it does take the time to expose the cold hard truth that mothers have all sorts of reasons to abandon their children (to include social or cultural pressure, which is briefly touched upon), and these children need help to survive. A lot of the children that are abandoned are disabled, and their deformities are shown on-screen to really emphasize their need for attention. Some of the stories that the people tell are pretty rough, and it adds significant emotional weight to the issue.

The film's structure is somewhat random, intermixing stories of pastor Lee, the children, the larger issue, and other aspects together without a specific pattern. Really, the drop box in itself isn't much of a story; it's the human element that makes it stand out, and the film captures it and uses it to emphasize a key Christian message: the idea that all life has a purpose, and deserves to be preserved. The film even goes to far as divulging into how the various saved children are progressing through life, subtly suggesting that even abandoned children can be happy and have a future. One can't help but to admire pastor Lee for his efforts in spite of this (and thankfully, the Christian message is not all that overbearing, even though the sentimentality is).

The film is pretty straightforward. There are a lot of tight close-ups of all the kids' faces. Some shots can be rather herky-jerky and some were out of focus, but most of the film looks okay. Editing is pretty decent; images are cut up effectively to help convey the subject matter well. There are some cheap animated segments that are cute, but ultimately unnecessary. The film itself isn't necessarily groundbreaking, but it gets the job done.

I would say that the film is worthwhile for bringing up awareness of the issue on a wider scale and possibly bringing up talking points. However, the film is most interested in putting human faces on all this, making it emotionally manipulative. I personally would have been more interested in a greater exploration of the social and moral implications of the drop box's usage. If you don't see this film being played at churches or schools or anything, it may be worth a look as a rental sometime (or you could just start reading up on it).

3/5 (Experience: Mixed | Content: Pretty Good | Film: Average)