“Every adventure has perils and pitfalls,” Helen Smallbone tells her six children and husband, David, as they huddle on the faded carpet of their “modest” new rental home in Nashville, Tennessee. Adventure is one word to describe what’s happened to the Smallbone family. And a bravely charitable word at that.
Unsung Hero was released on Apr 26, 2024, and is directed and screenwritten by Richard Ramsey, and Joel Smallbone. Joel Smallbone plays the part of his father David Smallbone. The movie includes real footage of the Smallbone Family. The oldest sister in the Smallbone family, Rebecca St. James played the flight attendant they the large Smallbone family meet while of their flight to America in the movie.
The movie Unsung Hero is based on a remarkable true story, Unsung Hero follows David Smallbone as he moves his family from Down Under to the States, searching for a brighter future after his successful music company collapses.
With nothing more than their seven children, suitcases, and their love of music, David (for KING + COUNTRY’s Joel Smallbone) and his pregnant wife Helen (Daisy Betts) set out to rebuild their lives. Helen’s faith stands against all odds and inspires her husband and children to hold onto theirs.
With their dreams on hold, David and Helen begin to realize the musical prowess in their children, who would go on to become two of the most successful acts in Inspirational Music history: five-time GRAMMY Award®-winning artists for KING + COUNTRY and Rebecca St. James.
For many people, it plays like a blandly well-intentioned tale of triumph over adversity and an earnest celebration of the importance of family. I have been in love with Joel and Luke Smallbone’s band For King + Country. So It made the movie much better as I gave a deeper dive into what Joel and his family had gone through.
In some ways, the saga of this Australian family’s ‘vacation’ in the United States, strangers in a strange land, with a pure Hollywood ending: The underdogs win, persevering through a seemingly unending series of unfortunate, Job-like events that might’ve ignited the faith of other families.
