Substance: Authentic settings and period costumes are the mainstay of this dramatizations of journal accounts from members of the Wiley and the Martin LDS handcart companies (combined to simplify the filming), which were caught in winter storms crossing the plains to Utah. There are too many characters to have a really coherent narrative, although they center on the journal of Levi Savage jr.
The screenplay leaves too much to the knowledge of the watcher, so if you are not conversant wit the history of the Donner Party (a secular group preceding these events by some years), and not familiar with LDS doctrines and history, some of the events will not be really comprehensible. Likewise, anyone not inclined to credit miraculous events will probably be unmoved, although most if not all were verified by multiple witnesses.

This is primarily a faith-promoting docudrama for Mormons, but the production quality is very high for the genre. ( )