Playa Perdida

Sometimes, you need a beach. Fading fast after a decade of serving troubled churches, a desk-bound pastor heads south for a break. When storms force his plane to land early, Gray Albright unexpectedly finds himself in a remote Central American town on the Pacific coast. Somehow, people there who want a church in the area know about him. They ask him to stay, but Gray says no. Then, back home after the failed vacation, he gets sacked by his grumpy congregation. So at the urging of his wife Moira, Gray relocates his family to Playa Perdida, where there's an array of intriguing expatriates-like Slot, a one-armed vet who shepherds lost causes; Bert, who covers her religious bases; Arthur, a refined British gent; and, the dowager Charlotte Pipe. As the Albrights settle in, a cynical journalist heckles, a surfing instructor offers insight, and a barista with a predilection for knives brews killer cappuccino. What does it take to form a church in a place like this? While trying to figure that out, Gray deals with a suicide, entrusts worship music to a garage band, counsels in a bar, conducts a wedding barefoot and helps catch a puma. He also finds himself on the receiving end of grace more than he had expected. With dry wit and laconic pacing, Playa Perdida introduces a lively community of saints and sinners. Washed up on shore from all over the world, almost everybody in this tropical paradise needs a second chance.