The Healer

The Healer is a 2016 Spanish-Canadian-American comedy-drama film written and directed by Paco Arango and starring Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Camilla Luddington, Kaitlyn Bernard, Jorge Garcia and Jonathan Pryce. The film, whose profits were pledged to Paul Newman’s SeriousFun Children's Network, was panned by critics, who acknowledged the altruistic intent was not matched by the quality of the film itself. Plot Mechanical engineer Alec Bailey, struggling after his parents' and twin brother Charlie's deaths, sleeps around, gambles, has a failing television repair business called The Healer, and is drowning in debt. Suddenly, Alec's estranged uncle, Raymond Heacock, offers to pay his £88,000 debt in exchange for him moving to Nova Scotia, Canada, for a whole year. Although not thrilled, Russian debt collectors chase him into a church where the priest suggests this might be a second chance, so he accepts the offer. Two days later, he moves to his Uncle Raymond's house near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. His first day in town, Alec meets Cecilia, who knows his uncle, and helps Alec place an ad in the local newspaper for work. His first days in town do not go well: meeting Father Malloy, he tells him he is Buddhist to avoid going to church; Officer Tom gives him a citation, making it clear he dislikes his uncle; and the newspaper ad, headed "The Healer", says he can fix anything. Suddenly, because of the ad, people start showing up at his house asking for miracles. Alec is frustrated at the confusion and at not getting any electrical business. Needing money, Alec starts working with Cecilia, a veterinarian. Strangely, one by one, each of the people who came to him to be healed were actually getting cured, although he refused to see them and told them he was an engineer, not a doctor. The strangest incident came when Father Malloy had a heart attack and died in front of Alec, but minutes later came back to life. Officer Tom misunderstands the situation, arresting Alec for Father Malloy's murder, until Malloy calls to confirm he is in fact alive. Malloy then tells Alec he believes he has a God-given gift to heal people.