A Review of Hazel’s
Heart by Nick Olszyk
Distribution Service: VOD
MPAA Rating, Not rated at the time of this review
OSV Rating, Not rated at the time of this review
Reel Rating, Four Reels
In the age
of smartphones and GPS, getting lost on your way home is at worst a minor
inconvenience, but in early 20th century North Dakota, it could cost
your life. Unfortunately, Hazel (Madelyn Dundon) must learn this the hard way.
Her true story, which unfolds in less than twenty-four hours, is an incredible
witness to the central tenant of Christianity, told in an unflinching but beautiful
manner.
Hazel
probably thought she was cursed, beset by constant difficulties. She has some
unspecified physical disability, which makes her slow and awkward. Her father
writes this off as laziness, chastising her at dinner for not finishing her
chores. She also suffers socially and emotionally. Growing up in rural North
Dakota in 1920, she attends a one room schoolhouse with the children of the
entire town, learning 10th grade math next to six-year-olds. Here,
she is bullied and mocked while the teacher ignores her plight. Fortunately,
the day is cut short when a sudden blizzard hits the area, and everyone is sent
home.
Hazel’s
father arrives after the storm has already engulfed the building with his
covered sled, loading up Hazel and her two young siblings Emmet (10) and
Myrdith (6). While packing the sled, the horse takes off, leaving him behind.
Assuming the horse knows the way back home, he manages to trudge through the
snow back to his cottage only to discover the children never returned. In fact,
the horse went in the opposite direction and got stuck in a snowbank. By this
point, it is a total blackout with temperatures dropping dangerously low. Hazel
wisely decides its best to stay in the covered wagon, which provides some
measure of shelter, and wait until morning, struggling to keep her brother and
sister warm and positive in the meantime.
This film,
which employs minimal art direction and locations, nonetheless does an amazing
job capturing a time and place that feels ancient but really wasn’t. There are
no cars, electric lights, or plumbing. Only a few people have telephones which
stop working the moment the weather goes foul. Clothes are made by hand. Yet
only two years later my own grandmother would be born a few hundred miles east.
This is a time when humans were still at the mercy of nature, and Hazel’s
family could indeed all die in a few hours if something isn’t done. What these
people lacked in technology, they made up for in grit and community cohesion.
When the town learns of the situation, they immediately form a search party the
next morning despite visibility still being almost non-existent. Tethered to
one another, they grope through the snows until the children are found.
It’s only
when the chips are down that man reveals his true character, and when Hazel
must save her siblings from death, the her heart is made manifest. She begins
by making sure the canvas of the shelter is intact and her siblings are well
covered. She then plays games and tells jokes to keep them awake. “You must not
go to sleep,” she insists repeatedly. When her brother becomes indignant, she
encourages him and apologizes for the situation. She tells them to pray and put
their trust in the Lord. When the canvas breaks and the children start to grow
colder, she gives them her coat as a blanket and uses herself as a shield from the
storm. It gives new meaning to words, “this is my Body broken for you.” Her
hands slowly become frostbitten sticks while icy creeps over her torso. In the
morning, the townsfolk manage to find the wagon, now buried in snow with Hazel
still clinging to the front, keeping her siblings alive. Her silhouette of arms
spread wide is unmistakable in its imagery.
Hazel’s
Heart is a masterclass in minimalist filmmaking. There are only a dozen
actors, few props, and nearly half the film takes place in a space the size of
a living room couch. Yet every second is fraught with tension as Hazel faces
challenge after challenge, and the ending is beautiful expression of the
central Christian virtue that “there is no greater love that a man would lay
down his life for his friends.” Hazel wasn’t weak. She was strong beyond
anyone’s comprehension, and her sacrifice now justly can be remembered forever.
This article first appeared in Catholic World Report on December 15th, 2025.
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