Historical Impact Report · September 13
·
2019
Out of Liberty
From the writer and director of The Saratov Approach and Freetown
From the writer and director of The Saratov Approach and Freetown
Out of Liberty brings to life the powerful true story of Joseph Smith and the others who were imprisoned for their faith in Liberty Jail. More than a western, it is a story of courage, conviction, and the price of religious freedom, reminding audiences of the cost of liberty and the enduring power of faith.
IMDb 7.5/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 86% audience score
Powerful, moving, and unforgettable.
8 Utah Film Award nominations. Winner Best Picture. Winner Best Director. Recognized for excellence in storytelling, cinematography, acting, and production.
Released nationwide by Samuel Goldwyn Films and Purdie Distribution, positioning an LDS story as a legitimate western drama, with the DVD widely available at Walmart.
Streaming on Prime Video, Living Scriptures, Apple TV, and YouTube, and widely shared through the church and community networks that keep the story in circulation.
Available worldwide on digital platforms, with screenings in homes, churches, seminaries, and institutions continuing to inspire and uplift audiences of all ages.
In the winter of 1838, Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, and four companions were committed without trial to the small stone jail at Liberty, Missouri, charged with treason in the aftermath of the Missouri Mormon War. For more than four months they lived in a dungeon fourteen feet square, beneath a ceiling too low for a grown man to stand upright, sleeping on straw through the Missouri winter while their families and their people were driven from the state. Joseph called it a hell surrounded with demons. Emma Smith visited three times. Hyrum met his infant son for the first time through its bars.
And yet it was inside those walls that Joseph Smith dictated some of the most beloved words in Latter-day Saint scripture, the anguished prayer that begins “O God, where art thou” and the answer that followed: that adversity would be “but a small moment.” Generations have come to call Liberty Jail the prison temple. The film tells this story through the eyes of Samuel Tillery, the young deputy jailer caught between the law he served and the mob at his door, charged with keeping six men alive whom half the county wanted dead. In April 1839, during a transfer to another county, the prisoners were quietly allowed to escape and crossed into Illinois.
From theaters to streaming and home video, Out of Liberty continues to reach new audiences year after year. A story that remains relevant. A message that endures.
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