Ashley Bratcher, who plays Abby Johnson, is pictured in a scene from the movie "Unplanned," the story of Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director, and her decision to join the pro-life movement. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. (CNS/Unplanned.com)

By Catholic News Service

Hard-hitting, fact-based drama adapted from a memoir by Abby Johnson. During her rise to become one of the youngest Planned Parenthood clinic directors in the country, Johnson (Ashley Bratcher) gradually becomes uneasy about the organization’s marketing of abortion, a process of conversion that reaches a dramatic climax when she is asked to assist a doctor performing the procedure and witnesses via sonogram what it really involves.

Her new stance is welcomed by her pro-life husband (Brooks Ryan) and parents (Robin DeMarco and Robert Thomason) as well as by some of the activists (Jared Lotz and Emma Elle Roberts) she once considered adversaries. But it infuriates her ornery former superior in the organization (Robia Scott) who becomes the moving force in a lawsuit against her.

Written and directed by Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon, the film is effective but unsparing in its effort to convey the full horror of slaughtering the unborn. So the parents of older teens will have to decide whether the informative value of the story outweighs its disturbing content.

Not for the casual moviegoer of any age. Gruesome images of abortion and dismembered fetuses, much medical gore, a mild oath, a few crass expressions, a vague sexual reference. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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