Directed by Jon Gunn with a screenplay written by Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig, it is based on true events that transpired during the 1994 North American cold wave.

Set in 1994 in Louisville, Kentucky, the story follows Sharon Stevens, a successful hairdresser and co-owner of a salon, who finds new purpose in life after reading about five-year-old Michelle Schmitt, a little girl who has just lost her mother and urgently needs a liver transplant due to biliary atresia.

Concerned about her behavior, her friend and co-owner of the salon, Rose, insists that she attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

Although Sharon refuses to acknowledge her drinking problem at the meeting, she is profoundly affected when she later sees the news about the Schmitt family.

She organizes a 24-hour hair-a-thon to rally the community and raise funds to help Ed, Michelle's widowed father, pay off their mounting medical debts.

Upon discovering that the hospital bills total a staggering $400,000.00, Sharon, undeterred, insists that Ed show her his finances.

One day, Ed returns home to find Barbara with a twisted ankle and Sharon bonding with the girls, applying makeup and spending time with them.

As Christmas passes, Sharon finally resolves to quit drinking, begins attending AA meetings earnestly, and leaves Derek a heartfelt goodbye message.

Meg Tilly and Kelly Fremon Craig contributed an earlier draft and received writing credit.

[2] In the United States and Canada, Ordinary Angels was released alongside Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training and Drive-Away Dolls, and was projected to gross $5–7 million from 2,800 theaters in its opening weekend.

The website's consensus reads: "With a dash of grace and circumstance, this sweet display of humanity is stabilized by Hilary Swank in a role that plays to the heartstrings of all Ordinary Angels.

[3] Courtney Howard of Variety wrote, "In Swank's capable hands, the character's predictable arc is made formidable, conjuring sympathy and strength in spades.