Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 71% (Critics) / 72% (Audience)
Directed By: Robbie Pickering
Written By: Robbie Pickering
Starring: Rachael Harris, Matt O’Leary, John Diehl and Jon Gries
Studio: Cinema Guild

Synopsis: Having discovered that her dying husband has an illegitimate child living in Florida, a devout Christian housewife leaves her sheltered world on a mission to reunite father and son. – (Source)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlX05hOWAmQ
The Good:
Rachael Harris, who I was familiar with as a near omnipresent supporting/character actress in countless movies and TV shows, gave a revelatory performance as the lead of this film. I have always thought she was funny (most of her previous gigs were in comedies) and she has moments that made me laugh in NATURAL SELECTION but it was her dramatic moments that were the most interesting parts of this movie. She gave a totally award worthy performance and I am shocked that she didn’t get any major nominations for this film when it came originally came out.

The Bad:
The relationship between Harris’ Linda and Matt O’Leary’s Raymond was hard to invest in fully just because both characters were such trainwrecks and Raymond was more abusive to Linda in the short amount of time they spent together than Linda’s jackass of a husband was over the span of their 20-something year marriage.

The Ugly
There were areas of this film that it felt like writer/director Robbie Pickering just ditched or ignored that should have been given a bit more focus like the situation between Linda, Linda’s sister and Linda’s brother-in-law and more of a focus on the particulars of Linda’s fractured marriage and her husbands motivations.

Final Verdict: A wonderful breakout lead performance by Rachael Harris elevates this tiny indie road movie above and beyond where it would likely fall in my rating scale. Harris gives NATURAL SELECTION its heart and her brave performance makes even the parts of the movie that I had issues with work for me.

Grade: B-