Spiritual Cinema
"Movies containing spiritual, metaphysical, conscious or similar messages or themes".
Simon Keyes explains the idea behind Spiritual Cinema.
It is the extraordinary power of cinema, high or low, serious and exploitative, to move and disturb us that we should celebrate and embrace in all its diversity. Films can fertilise our inner lives and provide a counter-balance to that compartmentalisation of our "religious" selves that Thomas Merton dubbed our "personal holiness project". The feelings and shadows that films (well, perhaps not quite every movie) incarnate in us give us privileged access to the world beyond our immediate experience. The sights and sounds of cinema can resonate in the realms of the unconscious and the archetypal like no other medium, and there is much for us to learn about ourselves in this experience.
Below is a list of "the best of" this genre...
Malcolm X (1992)
7.7/10
Director: Spike Lee
Starring: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall
Spike Lee's three-hour epic tale of the life and times of the small-time crook from Harlem turned revolutionary civil rights activist has Denzel Washi... Read more
Mary (2005)
5.9/10
Director: Abel Ferrara
Starring: Juliette Binoche, Forest Whitaker, Matthew Modine, Heather Graham, Marion Cotill...
Abel Ferrara attempts to illuminate the life of Mary Magdalene and the role of Catholocism in the modern world through three interweaving stories. To... Read more
Mary Magdalene (2018)
5.9/10
Director: Garth Davis
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lubna Azabal, Rooney Mara, Tahar Rahim, Denis...
A young girl from the village of Magdala resists the traditional roles of women in society, and takes the opportunity to rebel by following the newly... Read more
Michael (1996)
5.7/10
Director: Nora Ephron
Starring: Andie MacDowell, Jean Stapleton, John Travolta, Robert Pastorelli, William Hurt
A pair of Chicago-based tabloid reporters and a beautiful "angel expert" investigate a woman's claim that the archangel Michael is living in her Iowa... Read more
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
7.9/10
Director: George Seaton
Starring: Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Edmund Gwenn, Gene Lockhart, Natalie Wood
In this, one of Hollywood's most delightful fantasies, the spirit of Christmas is rekindled in a young girl (Natalie Wood) by a department store Santa... Read more
Molokai: The Story of Father Damien (2000)
6.9/10
Director: Paul Cox
Starring: David Wenham, Derek Jacobi, Sam Neill, Kris Kristofferson, Peter O'Toole
David Wenham plays the canonized Father Damien, a dedicated priest who sacrificed his own life in order to bring dignity and hope to the inhabitants o... Read more
Mother Joan of the Angels (1961)
7.7/10
Director: Jerzy Kawalerowicz
Starring: Lucynna Winnika
A brilliantly filmed and at times unsettling exploration of faith and repression, the film is based on the documented story of the possession of a gro... Read more
Mother! (2017)
6.7/10
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Ed Harris, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jennifer Lawrence, Domhnall Gleeson...
A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. From filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (Bl... Read more
Mother! (Blu-Ray) (2017)
6.7/10
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Ed Harris, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jennifer Lawrence, Domhnall Gleeson...
A couple's relationship is tested when uninvited guests arrive at their home, disrupting their tranquil existence. From filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (Bl... Read more
Mulan (1998)
7.6/10
Director: Barry Cook, Tony Bancroft
Starring: Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, Donny Osmond
The timeless Chinese folk tale of an heroic young woman who takes drastic measures to save her family and country is given exciting animated treatment... Read more