A Hidden Life (2019)
This is a religious masterpiece from Terence Malik, telling the story of the 20th century martyr Franz Jägerstätter. How do Catholics with this kind of integrity and courage come about? Malik revels in the mystery of that call in this amazing film.
Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)
This is a highly creative spin on the southern Gothic quest story. Essentially a pilgrimage story, this film highlights the healing grace of forgiveness, a transformed view of (intellectual) disability, and the power of transformative friendship.
Francesco (1989)
A grittier version of the story of St. Francis, this telling highlights his mystical nature and his struggles with contemporaries trying to rigidify his rule. Non-romantic to the core, this story still impresses me with its honesty and non-hagiographical presentation of Francis.
Henry Poole is Here (2008)
Let this movie sneak up on you. A story of a terminally ill man whose Latina neighbor believes has an apparition of Jesus on his stucco wall, this movie winds up being moving (without being sentimental), along with letting the mystery of faith be (without being kitschy).
Les Misérables (2012)
There are a lot of versions of the classic Hugo story, but this one packs the most emotional punch. If you only watch Hugh Jackman perform the “conversion” of Jean Valjean after his meeting with the Bishop, i think the movie would still be worth it.
Hacksaw Ridge (2016)
If you can get past Mel Gibson’s usual penchant for violence, this World War II movie can astound and inspire you. Based on the story of a Seventh-Day Adventist pacificist who served as a medic in the Asian theatre, Hacksaw Ridge profoundly illustrates what a Christian presence might mean in a world tearing itself apart. “Please Lord, help me get one more…”
The Way (2010)
Acompassionate and moving story of what can happen on pilgrimage on the Santiago de Compostela. Never preachy and always honest, this movie nonetheless illustrates the grace that can happen as we are “on the way.”
Wise Blood (1979)
Be ready for the wild ride that is Flannery O’Connor in the faithful movie version to her novel of the same name. Sympathetic critic of the evangelicalism that surrounded her, O’Connor had a gift for finding redemption amidst the ruins of the human mess. Director John Huston – a self-proclaimed atheist – wryly remarked after finishing filming, that he had just made a movie where “Jesus won.”
Of Gods and Men (2010)
A beautiful and compelling telling of the story of the Atlas martyrs. Few stories encapsulate so well Pope Francis’s desire for true “encounters” with the Other, to point of even “laying down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)
This is the story of Scholl (and her brother and companions) and how they resisted National Socialism in Germany during World War II. If you think that the only job of (Christian) students is to ignore the world and myopically study abstract concepts, this movie may change your mind.