Memorial Day asks us to do more than pause. It asks us to remember.

Not just the battles or the history, but the lives behind them. The people who served, the ones who did not come home, and the stories that can fade when remembrance becomes routine.

This week, we’re looking at two films that carry that responsibility in different ways. One brings long-overdue attention to women whose service helped soldiers stay connected to home. The other follows a life marked by survival, resilience, and redemption.

Together, they remind us that heroism is not always loud or easily recognized. It can look like service history nearly forgot, a life that refuses to be defined by suffering, or a story still reaching people in ways no one could have imagined.

Directed by Angelina Jolie, Unbroken follows Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner turned World War II bombardier, as he struggles to survive after a plane crash leaves him stranded at sea and he’s taken as a Japanese POW. The film is a harrowing portrait of endurance, but Zamperini’s larger story points beyond survival. His life reminds us that remembrance is not only about what someone endured, but what God can still bring from it.

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Tyler Perry’s The Six Triple Eight brings long-overdue attention to the heroes of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all-Black Women’s Army Corps unit sent overseas during World War II. Tasked with clearing a massive backlog of mail, their work became more than logistics — it became a lifeline. The film reminds us that history often overlooks the people who helped others keep going. This Memorial Day, their story is worth remembering.

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When Angelina Jolie directed Unbroken, she was taking on more than a survival story.

Based on Laura Hillenbrand’s bestselling biography, the film follows Louis Zamperini, a man whose life was almost impossible to contain in a single adaptation. Before the war made him a prisoner, Zamperini had already lived a remarkable life as an Olympic runner and World War II bombardier. Later, his story became something else — a testimony of faith and forgiveness that reached far beyond the years he spent on the battlefield.

That’s part of what makes the film interesting to revisit. Some Christian viewers wished Unbroken had explored Zamperini’s conversion more fully, while others noted how prayer, hope, and forgiveness still move through the story. Jolie herself spoke about how Zamperini shaped her understanding of faith, describing a sense that there is something greater than all of us.

But the most interesting part may be what happened behind the camera.

According to Zamperini’s daughter, Cynthia Garris, Jolie found herself praying on set when bad weather threatened an important scene. She reportedly said she would do what Louis would do, then prayed for the weather to clear. For a film about a man whose faith endured long after the war, it is a striking detail.

Zamperini’s story did not stop with the war, or even with the book that made his life known to millions. It reached the filmmaker entrusted with remembering him on screen. That may be the quiet power of a faithful life — long after it’s over, God can still use it to reach someone else.

The results are in! 50% of you voted for When someone gets exactly what they asked for in last week’s poll: What kind of wish story hits you hardest?

After choosing a winner of the Act 3 Story Contest, and integrating the ideas into the May 9 shoot, founder Ian Max Eyre's proof-of-concept short film, ”Pray v Prey,” finished funding this week on Loor TV, advancing the post timeline faster than expected. Fans at Loor TV now eagerly awaiting the finished short, but maybe they could weigh in on the rough cut.

Most filmmakers are trained to keep their work hidden until every piece is locked. But studios test unfinished edits all the time. The question is whether independent filmmakers can apply the same principle with greater transparency and trust.

This experiment reflects the principle behind the P.R.O.V.E. Method™:

It’s true, that bad word-of-mouth reaches further than good, but transparency is not the same as lowering the standard. It's a way of proving there is a standard. And for indie filmmakers, letting the audience in early can be less about exposure and more about trust.

Attend the FREE Theatrical Premiere in Memphis . Or join the Livestream.

_{*”Pray v Prey” is a project from Plumb News’ founder Ian Max Eyre. Loor TV is a crowdfunding and streaming platform that serves a similar audience to Plumb News, but Plumb News has no formal connection to the platform. The film was placed there to help fund completion and provide an exclusive streaming window once funded.}

“When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord… So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” – Joshua 4:6-7 (ESV)

Memorials are built because remembering takes intention.

In Joshua, the stones were not decoration. They marked the place where God had carried His people through the Jordan. One day, children would see them and ask what they meant. The answer would become part of how faith was passed down.

That is what remembrance can do. It gives people a way to speak about what happened, who was there, and why it still matters.

Memorial Day asks something similar of us. Not because every sacrifice can be fully understood from a distance, but because lives given in service should not disappear into the background of a long weekend.

The same is true of the films we return to. At their best, stories about war and service do more than revisit history. They help us look again at the people behind it, with enough care to see them as more than part of the past.

Until next time,

THE PLUMB NEWS TEAM