Chasing Grace dives head first into heartbreaking drama that few Christian movies have ever dared to go near. Dealing with the senseless loss of a child isn't exactly taboo. Christian movie hit Courageous built itself on such a conflict. Yet, this movie's death is decidedly more shocking due to the inciting incident being caused by a gun (even if it's entirely offscreen).

Unlike the mainstream faith-based flicks, this movie spends less time preaching at the audience and more time delving into the characters, which is a nice change for a Christian movie. There's a lot less of the cliché "perfect vs. sinner" and a lot more about exploring how even followers of Christ can face sin and real darkness in the face of tragedy.

Acting-wise, the film is an improvement over the norm. Some scenes fare better than others. There are moments where I really felt what was going on, and there were others where I could see the script being read a little too much. But the film's driving conflicts do help patch things up to keep the movie engaging.

The lack of notable names does give this a very low-key feel, which is appropriate given the nature of the story. While nothing here is earth shattering or mind blowing, the movie takes a sensitive story and gives it a serviceable production that should offer discerning filmgoers some more dramatic meat than might be expected from a Christian movie. Here's hoping this is indicative of more movies like this to come.