Re-Release of Emilio Estevez' 'The Way' Movie Comes at a Highly Relevant Time

Due to sometimes unforeseen circumstances, some of us have lost our way.  Perhaps you have lost a job after many faithful years of employment, a relationship you thought would last didn’t, or a loved one held dear had their life cut short tragically. Whatever the reason may be, these jolts of humanity have left those so personally affected, searching for something, anything to put their souls at rest.

While complete healing from such traumas may never come, it is imperative to at least search for a higher ground, a place that will not only offer comfort, but hopefully establish a sense of peace and a hope for better days ahead.

No movie in recent memory addresses these yearnings of the heart better than the Emilio Estevez directed movie, The Way. Originally released theatrically in 2011, the movie will be re-released as a Fathom Movie Event on Tuesday (May 16th). Even though it earned just $13 million worldwide during its initial run, Estevez felt compelled to bring the movie back into the public’s consciousness due to the many hardships people have suffered through in recent years.

Estievez recently told Deadline, “It’s a movie that is now more of its time than when we made it. Going through and coming out of COVID, people want to get out and travel again, see the world and be less isolated.”

Starring Estevez’s father, Martin Sheen, The Way tells the story of Tom, a grieving father who heads to Spain to recover the body of his estranged son (played by Estevez) who died while walking the “Camino de Santiago”, a pilgrimage known for inspiring spiritual awakenings along its roughshod 500 mile route through the heart of Spain. In his grief, Tom decides to take the pilgrimage himself, not because he wants to but to honor his late son instead.

Along the way, he encounters three other people making the same journey but for very different reasons. Estevez, who directed the film and also wrote the screenplay, likens the trek of this quartet to a different cinematic foursome who also went on a journey: Dorothy (Martin Sheen), the Tin Man (Deborah Unger), the Scarecrow (James Nesbitt), and the Cowardly Lion (Yorick van Wageningen) from the classic movie, The Wizard of Oz.

Estevez told CBN’s Hannah Goodwyn in a 2011 interview, “(Tom is) a stranger in a strange land. He finds himself in Spain alone; and he wants to be alone. Unlike Dorothy who invites the other three to come along, Tom doesn’t want to have anything to do with them. They invite themselves.”

While it is a noble gesture to want to be alone as we process through our grief, ultimately we need the love and compassion of others to help us get through whatever it is that is haunting us. It is certainly true that sometimes people come into our lives with a willingness to help but we often don’t want anything to do with them. We want to be alone in our misery, fighting our battle in solitude. However, these “helpers”, despite their wrinkles and warts and great penchant for sticking their nose where it doesn’t belong, they ultimately have valuable wisdom to share.

To its credit, The Way provides a wonderful glimpse into dealing with the sometimes intense emotional pain that we endure from our losses. When nothing seems right and every waking moment seems wrong, Estevez does a masterful job in showing us that God loves you no matter how broken and imperfect you are. 

What a powerful message for those who are hurting, but more importantly what a timely message for the stressful, anxiety-fraught times we are currently living in.

The Way will be shown in more than 800 theaters nationwide on Tuesday, May 16th as a Fathom Movie Event. For more information please visit: https://www.fathomevents.com/events/The-Way-Movie

WATCH A TRAILER FOR THE WAY: