Directed by Shawn Seifert, An Easter Bloom is a film about patience and resilience. The plot revolves around Amanda and her struggle to save her family’s flower farm. The farm wasn’t able to withstand the rough weather conditions, and Amanda was almost on the verge of selling her plot. An opportunity came her way to try and save her land. She gets excited when Lori promises to train her before participating in a florist’s competition to win the prize money and save her farm. Will Amanda win the competition? How will Constance help Amanda save her farm? Let’s find out!
Spoilers Ahead
Why Was Amanda Losing All Hopes Of Saving Her Farm?
Amanda and her mom, Grace, were trying their best to save their flower farm by trying to apply for emergency loans. Their business had crashed as a result of the harsh weather, and they were not even getting a loan as their sales had been low in the past two years. Amanda regretted not returning home earlier and learning the business better from her dad before he passed away. Amanda’s father’s friend, Tom, also came up to the family, asking them to sell their land (as they received a foreclosure letter) before the bank could approach them. However, Amanda decided not to sell the land as it was associated with her father’s memories.
Why Did Lori Decide To Help Amanda?
Lori, a retired florist, had suddenly bumped into Amanda’s yard with her car, and she decided to help Lori. Amanda invited her in, offering her hot chocolate and talking to her about her difficulties. That is when Lori told Amanda about an Easter flower arranging competition, which had a prize money of $20,000. Amanda said that it would be enough to get them through the season, but she added that she had no skills as a florist, as she was just a flower farmer. Lori decided to help Amanda by teaching her how to arrange flowers. She taught Amanda about the 5 principles of floral design, including harmony, contrast, purpose, and balance, and she kept the last principle a secret. Lori helped Amanda learn how to arrange flowers that complement each other. She also took her shopping (which was a part of her lesson) to help her understand the patterns and contrasts. A kind neighbor, Gladys, saw her talent in arranging flowers at the cafe that Amanda worked at and decided to fund her flowers and even buy all the cookies that her mother made to help her out financially.
What Was Lori And Constance’s Feud About?
Amanda noticed that Lori and Constance had been avoiding each other. When she asked Lori about it, she said that she and Constance used to be best friends and worked in the same flower shop. Constance had a very good eye for design, and they put a sunflower in every flower arrangement they made as a sign of their friendship. However, later, Lori met Don, got engaged, and eventually relocated for him, breaking her promise to Constance that they’d stay together for life. After Lori moved out, Constance stopped talking to her. It has been years since the two have talked to each other, as both were too egoistic to forget the rift.
How Did Amanda And Derrick’s Bond Develop?
Derrick was a regular customer at the cafe Amanda worked in and was one of the very few customers who really appreciated her talent for making coffee. Later, when Amanda got to know that Derrick was Lori’s son (the new pastor), their closeness increased. They would often meet, and Derrick would tell her how much he loved her passion for arranging flowers.
Once, when Amanda met Derrick and went out for a walk, she said his mom had told her that Derrick was a sucker for outdoor adventures. However, Derrick asked her to keep that a secret, as he didn’t want people to know that he had a knack for outdoor games because he was a pastor now and had some responsibilities. On one occasion, when Derrick and Amanda were baking together, he opened up to her, saying that he had never wanted to be a pastor before. He had gone to a business school, but then realized that the corporate life was not for him. He then decided to teach rock climbing, and while he was on one of his expeditions, he fell 60 feet and had surgeries on his vertebrae. Samuel, his occupational therapist, taught him to walk and praise the Lord.
Amanda also shared her difficulties with him, saying how the Easter harvest wouldn’t be bountiful and how sad she was about her dad’s death. She said that after the funeral, she had stopped going to church, and maybe God had been punishing her for it. Derrick reverted, saying that God loves us no matter what and that he would never punish anyone. Later, he took her on a small mountain trek, showing her some snowdrop flowers and saying that those flowers were exactly like Amanda as they grew in adverse situations. He also told her that he had a few regrets in life but never blamed God for them. He said that when he had taken a fall, a student of his was clad to him and took even a steeper fall than him. Even though he was able to survive, he ended up in a wheelchair. Derrick said that he would often blame himself for it.
Did Derrick Take Up The New Job?
Samuel asked Derrick to take up a job that included going up on a spiritual mountain retreat to the Shenandoah Valley. He would be appointed as the spiritual leader there. When Amanda overheard their conversation, she felt dejected, as she thought that Derrick would leave her side and take up the job. However, she didn’t let that take over her practice of flower arrangement. Meanwhile, Lori called her and said that she had a fall and hence couldn’t help but will join her final practice. Amanda arranged flowers for Lori and visited her in the hospital. She told Lori that finally she had understood that ‘love’ was the fifth principle of flower arrangement. When she told Lori that all she needed was a little more harmony in her life, she decided to resolve her feud with Constance and asked Amanda to deliver her a sunflower (as a peace offering).
What Happened At The Competition?
During the competition, Amanda gave her best to win it, but sadly, Constance became the winner, and Amanda got the position of runner-up. Despite her sadness and inability to save her farm, Amanda thanked Lori for her support. She later invited Constance to an Easter brunch at the Raymond Flower Farm, as it would be a final send-off of her farm.
Did Constance Help Amanda?
During the Easter celebration at the church, Derrick opened up to his flock about his past accident. He wanted to appear transparent to the people so that he could forgive himself. After the celebration at the church was done, he went to Amanda’s Easter brunch and said that he had turned down the job offer to stay with her. Later, when Constance joined in, she announced that she wanted to help Amanda save her farm and handed over the prize money that she had won. Amanda thanked her, saying that the amount would be enough to sustain themselves till the next bloom on their farm. Amanda wanted to turn the farm into a one-stop wedding venue, to which all agreed.
Final Words
By next Easter, the farm had a full bloom, marking the resurrection of Amanda’s spirits and heightening her will to thrive in adverse situations. The story is that of will and determination to overcome hardship. All the characters emitted a super-positive aura, but I believe adding a bit of realistic negativity (maybe one or two negative characters) would have brought about the perfect balance in the story!
