SMITH FAMILY

When I described the story of Smith Family to a friend, she assumed that I was talking about a fictional film. "No, it's a documentary..." I had to clarify—and she was floored. Smith Family is one of those films where fate lands one cruel blow after another on one family, but they somehow get through it. The film is both absolutely devastating, yet somehow life- and faith-affirming.

The Smith Family were the model Mormon family in their community. Steve had a successful military career, and Kim was a stay-at-home mother for their two well-adjusted teenage boys. But after feeling sickly for awhile, Kim goes for a check-up at the doctor and finds out, to her obvious shock, that she is HIV positive. The revelation forces her husband Steve to admit that he has cheated on her... with men. Soon, it is Steve who has full-blown AIDS.

The documentary introduces us to the Smiths literally as Steve is dying. A frail and skeletal man, he relates his story of facing up to his past secret liaisons with men, and admitting, despite his love for his wife, that he is a homosexual. In candid interviews with all the family members, Kim tells of the profound hurt and anger she deals with, and the boys with the fact that they could lose both parents to the disease. 

But factoring largely into the story is the Smiths' relationship to the Mormon church. Faith is what keeps the family together, but it is the church that threatens to rip them apart, both in the present (as the eldest son faces being shipped off on his 2-year mission as his father is dying), and in the eternal (admitting he is gay could get Steve thrown out of the church, meaning he will not see his family again in the afterlife). The way the family deals with these issues is both gripping, extremely sad, and yet inspirational.

Smith Family is an extremely powerful documentary. It neither judges the family's decisions, nor the church's actions, for that matter. The situation presented at face value, and it is truly a marvel to see this family stick together through everything they go through. Younger son Parker perhaps puts it best when he describes his family’s positive attitude: “We were dealt these cards, and we’re gonna play them. We’re gonna play them, and we’re gonna win.”