Hollywood is in trouble. The box office is the worst it has been in decades, despite several movies that have big names and budgets attached to them. The New York Times has declared that Hollywood has “fallen to new lows.”
There are, however, certain types of films that have done well this year. Namely, Christian films. The animated feature The King of Kings has made $77 million on a budget of $25 million. Many conservatives consider it a counterpoint to the “woke” new version of Snow White, which bombed. The theatrical release of several episodes of the TV series The Chosen also performed well.
There is also a lot of anticipation for The Resurrection of the Christ, the Mel Gibson sequel to the smash 2004 hit The Passion of the Christ. The Resurrection of the Christ will be released in two installments, with the first coming on March 26, 2027, followed by the second on May 6, 2027 — that is to say, on Good Friday, which celebrates the day Jesus was crucified, and on Ascension Day, celebrating the day Jesus allegedly ascended into Heaven forty days after his resurrection. Gibson has described the sequels as an “acid trip,” adding that he “never read anything like” the scripts, which the filmmaker wrote alongside Braveheart screenwriter Randall Wallace.
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For movie fans who can’t wait until 2027 and want to see some good, faith-based movies over this holiday season, a good guide to Christian films is the recently published A Whole Life in Twelve Movies: A Cinematic Journey to a Deeper Spirituality. Authors Kathleen Norris and Gareth Higgins evaluate 12 different films through a Christian lens. It’s a wonderful guide for anyone looking for rewarding cinema that goes beyond strict retellings of the Bible.
A Whole Life in Twelve Movies doesn’t avoid films that deal with the darker side of human nature. It just decides to emphasize movies that can wrestle with darkness but come out in favor of hope, redemption, and goodness in the face of evil. “Fargo, like many films discussed in this book, does not provide easy entertainment,” Norris writes. “Our intent is that they will invite all of us to a deeper understanding of human nature and spirituality and will inform our desire to live better and more fulfilled lives. As you read this book, we hope the observation that ‘it’s a beautiful day’ will remain with you, an affirmation of the human ability to find redemption in all situations and circumstances.”
In the book Norris and Higgins, coauthors of the newsletter Soul Telegram: Movies and Meaning, analyze 12 movies arranged in the manner of a devotional calendar, with each film representing a stage in life. 2001: A Space Odyssey is about birth, The Fisher King is about the quest to do what’s right; Make Way for Tomorrow and Love Is Strange condemn the sin of bigotry; Babette’s Feast celebrates how “generosity begets generosity”; and Wonder Woman: 1984 preaches self-sacrificial love. They conclude with Into Great Silence, about life in a cloistered monastery.
“We are inviting you to a kind of liturgy for experiencing images, sounds, words, and stories in a sacramental way,” Norris writes. “This takes conscious intent and a bit of ritual, and with that in mind, we’re offering some principles that can help you go deeper into movies.”
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In A Whole Life in Twelve Movies, Harris and Higgins also approve of The Lord of the Rings movies. An animated feature in the world of Middle-earth. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim was released last year.
“This is the story of the most powerful king in Rohan’s history, someone who defeated his enemies with his bare fists,” director Kenji Kamiyama said in a recent interview. “Why did his lineage have to end with him? I think there is a lesson in hubris there and also for a need for responsibility and awareness in their power. We live in an age where, all over the world, we face the reality of war again. What, then, is power? What is the responsibility of those who possess it? It is something they need to think about by thinking together with those who don’t.”
