I’ve been around Christian culture for my entire life, and I’ve seen my fair share of “faith-based” movies made by or marketed to evangelicals. Most of them are awful. It may sound harsh to say that, but it’s sadly true. The “faith-based” genre may be increasingly lucrative at the box office, but it has a pitiful reputation in terms of quality: cheaply made, heavy-handed, poor acting, didactic writing, derivative style, overly sentimental, unwilling to acknowledge pain or unresolved tension.
As a result, most of us now have pretty low expectations for faith-based films. The upshot is that when faith-based films exceed expectations and are actually pretty good, it’s noteworthy and worth celebrating. As a film critic writing to faith audiences, I love nothing more than to celebrate exceptional faith-based movies when they come along. And they do come along!
Here is a list of 10 faith-based movies that aren’t embarrassing and won’t make you cringe. Seek them out and share them with others. If enough of us start celebrating these sorts of films, maybe the faith-based genre will start changing for the better.
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005). A good film to pair with A Hidden Life (see below), Sophie Scholl tells the true story of Christian resistance to Nazism during WWII. The film follows siblings Sophie and Hans Scholl, who bravely joined other students in the White Rose resistance movement and ended up facing charges of high treason and execution at the hands of the Nazis.
Amazing Grace (2006). Directed by Michael Apted, this historical drama depicts the British movement to abolish the slave trade, led by prominent British evangelicals like William Wilberforce and Hannah More. A straightforward but elegantly told biographical drama, the film gets its name from the hymn written by John Newton (Albert Finney)—a former slave ship captain who converted to Christianity and influenced Wilberforce in his campaign to abolish the slave trade.
Of Gods and Men (2010). Written and directed by Xavier Beauvois, this French-language film tells the true story of a group of Cistercian monks living among the largely Muslim population of Algeria in the 1990s. Featuring some truly transcendent moments of heavenly joy amidst trial and tribulation, Of Gods and Men is one of cinema’s most powerful portraits of faithful Christian mission and sacrifice.
The Way (2010). Set on the famous pilgrimage route in northwestern Spain, the Camino de Santiago, this thoughtful drama stars Martin Sheen and is directed by Sheen’s son, Emilio Estevez. Exploring themes of faith, fatherhood, loss, and spiritual renewal, The Way captures the way spiritually lost pilgrims find an anchor in ancient Christian truth.
Hacksaw Ridge (2016). Mel Gibson’s WWII epic is extremely violent and harrowing to watch, but it’s also one of the most thoughtful explorations of Christian faith I’ve seen in a Hollywood blockbuster. Based on the true story of Demond Doss, a combat medic who became the first conscientious objector to win the Medal of Honor, Hacksaw Ridge provides an inspiring vision for how faith convictions can be lived out against the grain.
All Saints (2017). Based on a true story, this little-seen drama stars John Corbett as a pastor of a small, financially struggling Anglican church in Tennessee. The church is revitalized when a group of refugees from Myanmar show up one Sunday morning. They are spiritually rich but materially poor, and so the church helps them by turning the property’s land into a farm. The plentiful harvest both feeds the refugees and pays the church’s bills.
I Can Only Imagine (2018). What stands out about this movie—which tells the “story behind the song” of MercyMe’s hit, “I Can Only Imagine”—is how unafraid it is to let flawed characters be flawed and painful situations be painful. The darkness of the story makes its redemptive conclusion feel earned. Kudos to the Erwin brothers for paving the way for more faith-based films like this.
A Hidden Life (2019). Set in WWII and telling the true story of an Austrian farmer whose Christian faith led him to resist the Nazi regime, Terrence Malick’s somber epic is a true faith-based masterpiece. Though it will feel stylistically unconventional and perhaps challenging for mainstream movie audiences, the payoff is worth it. This is a film of many layers and profound depth.
Jesus Revolution (2023). Directed by Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle, this period film explores the origins of the Calvary Chapel movement in the 1960s and 70s. Featuring excellent performances (especially The Chosen’s Jonathan Roumie as hippie-preacher Lonnie Frisbee and Kelsey Grammer as Chuck Smith), the film is a great example of a well-told story that isn’t afraid of complicated characters and chronicling the ups and downs (not just ups) of faith.
Surprised By Oxford (2023). Ryan Whitaker’s adaptation of Carolyn Weber’s excellent memoir Surprised by Oxford prioritizes things often neglected in faith-based entertainment: stylistic beauty, smart story, good acting, and a goal of entertaining the audience more than preaching to them. Part romance, part coming-to-faith narrative, and beautifully shot on location in Oxford, this film is a great example of an apologetics-oriented film that doesn’t feel preachy.
Brett McCracken is a senior editor and director of communications at The Gospel Coalition. He is the author of The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World, Uncomfortable: The Awkward and Essential Challenge of Christian Community, Gray Matters: Navigating the Space Between Legalism and Liberty, and Hipster Christianity: When Church and Cool Collide. Brett and his wife, Kira, live in Santa Ana, California, with their three children. They belong to Southlands Church, and Brett serves as an elder. You can follow him on Twitter.
"The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C.S. Lewis" (2021). Not cringy.
One of our faves is The Mission.