Gimme Shelter is a powerful and moving story about Apple, a single mother who grapples with her parents’ selfishness and decides to defy her fate.

The first third of the film is quite harsh. It shows how sixteen-year-old Apple is confronted with various hardships in her life. Her mother is a drug-addicted prostitute who forces her daughter to follow in her footsteps. However, the girl has a strong and indomitable spirit and is determined to fight for a better life for herself and for the child she is expecting.

When she runs away from her mother, she decides to search for her father, whom she has never met. She discovers that he is Tom Fitzpatrick, who works on Wall Street. He invites the defiant, dirty, and hungry Apple to sit at the family table. But when it comes to light that she is pregnant, her father advises her to have an abortion. Tom’s wife takes her to a clinic, but Apple changes her mind at the last minute.

She runs away and from that moment on is on the streets. She gets into a conflict with a pimp who wants to turn her into a prostitute. She manages to escape in his car, but the ride ends in a crash. She wakes up in the hospital, where she meets Father McCarthy. He convinces her to try starting a new life at a facility for pregnant teenage girls. She gradually realizes that this has been one of the best decisions of her life so far.

Drama

USA, 2013, 101 min

Cast: Ron Krauss;

Crew: Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Hudgens, Brendan Fraser, James Earl Jones, Ann Dowd, Stephanie Szostak, Emily Meade, Laneya Wiles, Sheila Tapia, Tashiana Washington;

Parents Guide:

A brief shot of a woman sitting on a bed in panties and a T-shirt. A scene featuring a woman in a minidress. A girl in a scene with a low-cut top. About two instances of harassment of a girl, mostly verbal. A few instances of fighting between women. Persuasion and transportation of a girl to have an abortion. One instance of Apple being cut with a razor blade by her mother. A few instances of the swear words “bitch,” “whore,” or “trash.” A few instances of smoking. A car accident. Expecting a child out of wedlock.

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