For many in the pro-life movement, pro-life convictions are rooted in defense of the millions of mothers and fathers who were shamed or manipulated into an abortion or were told that an abortion was their only legitimate resolution for an unplanned pregnancy. 

And Hollywood has played its part in the erasure of the post-abortive parents who regret their abortions and wish someone had directed them to a life-affirming resource. But with the proliferation of abortion around the world and hundreds of millions of parents post-abortive, it was only a matter of time before abortion was portrayed as anything other than empowering.  

READ: Trump Taps These Stars for Hollywood’s “Golden Age,” But Will They Make It Pro-Life and Pro-Family Again? 

The film Better Man, based on the life of British pop singer Robbie Williams and directed by Michael Gracey, the critically acclaimed director of the 2017 film The Greatest Showman, follows Williams in the form of an anamorphic monkey as he sulks in the woes of fatherhood, coming to fame, and loss that left him drug addicted and down an endless spiral.  

Williams’ story begins in Stoke-On-Trent, England. When William’s father, Peter Williams, abandons him, Robbie Williams feels defective. He carries this self-image into his academics and later into the boy band, from which he would be expelled. His father’s selfish absence always leaves Williams fending for himself or feeling as though he has something to prove. When he cannot fill the void of a father who sincerely loves him, Williams turns to hard drugs.  

Imaginative visuals and celestial cinematography are reminiscent of Gracey’s “Rewrite The Stars” sequence from The Greatest Showman, which shows Robbie Williams’s plight and how a little love goes a long way. The young love he found in Canadian singer Nicole Appleton presented a reprieve from his loneliness. Williams and Appleton moved in together, got engaged, and were expecting a child. A montage put to the song “She’s The One” showed just how excited the couple were to welcome their baby until Appleton found herself in the same shoes as pop singers such as Brittany Spears, who were pressured into an abortion to preserve their image.  

READ: Before Sally Field Played Beloved Aunt May in Spiderman, She Was a Post-Abortive Mother 

Abortion was the point of no return on the failing relationship between Robbie Williams and Nicole Appleton. Williams’ chance to be the father he never had was cut short, and the music industry was responsible. In a lonely moment of grief during one scene, Williams can only muster words: “You can’t manufacture a miracle.” You can’t manufacture a miracle. Hundreds of millions of post-abortive parents, Williams included, learned that the hard way.  

This single line was the inspiration for William’s hit song “Something Beautiful”, where Williams writes: 

You can’t manufacture a miracle
The silence was pitiful that day
And love is getting too cynical
Passion’s just physical these days 

[…] 

If you’re lost, hurt, tired or lonely
Can’t control it, try as you might
May you find that love that won’t leave you
May you find it by the end of the day 

Robbie Williams and Nicole Appleton’s post-abortive story is not uncommon. Not when the abortion media and industry publicly condemn pregnancy resources or assistance clinics or when regretful post-abortive parents are silenced.  

Better Man gets many things right- the depth of drug addiction, fatherhood absence, abortion, and the interconnected pattern between all three of those issues. Michael Gracey and Robbie Williams may have set out to provide hope for those afflicted by drug addiction. Still, their honest inclusion of the toll abortion takes on the heart can additionally help many more viewers feel seen.  

Williams and Appleton are not the last couple pressured into choosing abortion, but if we, as the pro-life movement, speak up for life-affirming resources and speak out against rhetoric that stigmatizes unplanned parenthood, abortion will see its end.  

Life is a miracle, and miracles can’t be manufactured. If you or someone you know needs resources from pregnancy support, maternity homes, and academic / workplace accommodations, visit Standingwithyou.org.  Better Man came to theaters worldwide on January 17, 2025, and will stream on Paramount+.

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