Sophie and the Rising Sun is a 2016 American drama film written and directed by Maggie Greenwald. It is based on the 2001 novel Sophie and the Rising Sun by Augusta Trobaugh. The film stars Julianne Nicholson, Takashi Yamaguchi, Margo Martindale, Diane Ladd, Lorraine Toussaint and Karen Wheeling Reynolds. It was released in theaters on January 25, 2017 by Monterey Media.

Plot

Set in the autumn of 1941 in Salty Creek, a willowy fishing village in South Carolina, the film tells the compelling story of two interracial lovers, Sophie, an artist who also fishes and sells crabs to the townsfolk, the other an Asian gentleman, swept up in the tides of history. As World War II rages in Europe, Mr. Ohta appears in the town badly beaten and under mysterious circumstances. Sophie, a native of Salty Creek, quickly becomes transfixed by Mr. Ohta and a friendship born of their mutual love of art blossoms into a delicate and forbidden courtship. As their secret relationship evolves the war escalates tragically. And when Pearl Harbor is bombed, a surge of misguided patriotism, bigotry and violence sweeps through the town, threatening Mr. Ohta's life. A trio of women, each with her own secrets – Sophie, along with the town matriarch and her housekeeper – rejects law and propriety, risking their lives with their actions.