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Bible Movies You Should Check Out This Good Friday
Modified: January 9, 2024
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Bible movies that are perfect for spicing up your movie night. Strengthen your family's faith by watching these films together!
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“Holy Week” might be like any other holiday where people stay at home or do things that we usually do on our free days. But for us, Christians, it is the time to reflect on our faith. This season commemorates the most important part of Christianity; Christ’s sacrifice through His death at the cross. Although different Christian denominations have their own ways of observing this event, we will all agree that the center of the Holy Week is to remind ourselves of what Christ had to bear for our sins. In this season, it is common for films about Christianity to launch and resurface. Watching Bible movies during this sacred time is a good way to strengthen our faith, educating our children, and entertaining our whole family.
Best Christian Movies For Holy Week
Media is a very effective tool that shapes our beliefs and manipulates our perception of things. However, most contents nowadays are undeniably ungodly and sinful. Consuming these contents will sway our virtues even as grown adults. And more dangerously, it directs children’s mind towards unholiness, It is important for us to be aware of what we will feed our brains.
With various streaming platforms online such as Amazon Prime Video, we can watch a lot of movies in the comfort of our homes and together with our families. The evolution of media gave us good Bible movies which we can watch on our free times especially this Holy Week. Bible is not the best-selling book for all time without reason. This Holy Scripture has a lot of fun stories that make a good movie. That is why Bible movies were never out of trend. In this article, we listed down the best Bible movies you can check out.
The Passion of the Christ
This is one of the most powerful and important films ever made. It is a story of faith and sacrifice that speaks to the human spirit. It offers a reverent and significant depiction of the last twelve hours of Jesus on earth. Starting from the holiness of His prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane to the heart-wrenching and powerful portrayal of His sufferings and crucifixion in Jerusalem. This film adaption would probably shock Christians, especially those who’ve come to take Christ’s sufferings and sacrifices for granted.
This Lenten season, let’s go back in time and witness the journey of a man who changed the world. The Passion of the Christ depicts the history and struggle of our savior Jesus Christ as he tries to revolutionize the status quo by spreading the word of God. This movie portrays the very foundation of Christianity that we know today: unconditional love and faith.
Rating: R
Genre: Religious, drama
Directed By: Mel Gibson
Release Date: 25 February 2004
Written By: Benedict Fitzgerald (screenplay), Mel Gibson (screenplay)
Runtime: 2 hours and 7 min
Casts: Jim Caviezel, Monica Bellucci, Maia Morgenstern
Short Background:
The life of our Lord Jesus Christ is the highlight of the Bible. He is the fulfillment of the prophecy and the proof of God’s love for humanity. This movie, The Passion of the Christ, brought the Bible story into life. Highlighting the life and sacrifices that Jesus made in the cross in Hebrew, Latin, and Aramaic dialogues. Watch it here with English Subtitle.
This movie is the highest-grossing Christian film of all time. It is also the 7th highest-grossing domestically making its $30 million budget earn a total of $611. With its phenomenal yet controversial execution of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, the film was bombarded with a lot of good and bad reviews. In 2005, the film proved its worth by receiving 3 nominations at the 77th Academy awards.
Probably, most of us have seen this movie but as our knowledge of the Bible increases and our perspective continuously changing, it is sure worth a rewatch.
Read more: Why Do We Receive Communion On Good Friday
Risen
Most Bible movies that we know revolves around the prophets, the apostles, Jesus, and other famous Bible characters. This movie, Risen, breaks the norm by taking the other side of the story when Jesus died. 3 days after the death of Christ, He resurrected from the grave which shook the Roman empire. The story focuses on one of the Roman soldiers who was commanded to search for Christ, believing that somebody took His corpse and hid it.
This movie features the side of the people behind Jesus’ execution, the Roman empire. Filled with battle sequences, it gives us a fresher take of what happened after the day Christ rose from the dead that we celebrate as Easter day.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Religious, Drama, Action
Directed By: Kevin Reynolds
Release Date: February 19.2016
Written By: Kevin Reynolds, Paul Aiello
Runtime: 1 hour and 47 minutes
Casts: Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton, Peter Firth
Short Background:
After the death of Christ, 3 ladies found His tomb empty. Upon finding it out, the Roman government ordered a manhunt operation to retrieve the body. Clavius, a Roman soldier, and a non-believer were one of those who were commanded to solve the mysterious disappearance of Jesus’ body to prevent any rumor that the messiah has risen.
This film will offer a fresh point of view as the story revolves around a non-believer.
Paul Apostle Of Christ
This film is crafted with encouraging Christian content with positive messages. It is a battle of faith in the life of Paul and Luke. As Paul awaits for his last day in prison, his old friend Luke came and visited him. Paul told him his story before the execution as Luke continues to evangelize and decided to remain in Rome. Like Paul and Luke, we Christians must take our faith seriously, especially this holy week.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Biography, Drama, History
Directed By: Andrew Hyatt
Release Date: 23 March 2018
Written By: Terence Berden, Andrew Hyatt
Runtime: 1hour and 48 minutes
Casts: Jim Caviezel, James Faulkner, Oliver Martinez
Short Background:
Paul, the most famous apostle and the one who wrote most books in the New Testament, is a very significant Bible figure. His shift from being a murderer of the first Christians to an apostle makes his life astonishing. Even at the brink of death, Paul held unto his faith. Something that we should learn from.
The firmness of Apostle Paul’s faith and his teachings are something that we should definitely watch this Holy week.
The Prince Of Egypt
This is an extraordinary story of Moses’ destiny as a chosen deliverer of Israel. After growing as a Prince of Egypt and knowing his real identity as a true Hebrew, Moses emerges fiercely to rescue his fellow Hebrews under Egyptian slavery. The Egyptians witnessed the power of God through the plagues and pestilences that stroke their people and lands. This breathes life into bringing Israel’s journey to freedom on the big screen.
Rating: PG
Genre: Animation, Drama, Adventure
Directed By: Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner
Release Date: December 18, 1998
Written By: Philip LaZebnik, Nicholas Meyer
Runtime: 1 Hour and 39 minutes
Casts: Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer
Short Background:
The Nativity Story
Maybe we have all memorized by virtue the beginning of a passage of Scripture that is repeatedly read every Christmas, but this film will give you an onscreen narrative of the happenings in the life of Mary and Joseph as they journeyed to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. This film is based on the biblical accounts by Matthew and Luke. It is about the love of God for all mankind by sending His begotten Son to save us from our sins.
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama, Family, History
Directed By: Catherine Hardwicke
Release Date: December 1, 2006
Written By: Mike Rich
Runtime: 1 Hour and 41 minutes
Casts: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Oscar Isaac
Short Background:
Read more: 20 Friday Morning Prayers
Noah 2014
As we all know the famous story of Noah, this film brought a very realistic depiction of the significant happenings in Noah’s life. The movie showed a lot of things; the beautiful creation of God, how He showed His sorrow when humanity turned their backs on Him, and His righteous anger and determination to renew humanity.
Noah was chosen and called “righteous man” as he tried to remain clean and obey His command. We should also ponder how Noah always tries to follow God no matter how hard the task might be with the very best of our ability and strengthen our faith.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Romance
Directed By: Darren Aronofsky
Release Date: March 28, 2014
Written By: Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel
Runtime: 2 hours and 18 minutes
Casts: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Anthony Hopkins
Short Background:
Exodus: Gods and kings
For 400 years, the Hebrews have been slaves to Egypt. Moses, a true Hebrew but grew as an Egyptian prince battles against his brother Rameses as he follows God to free his fellow Hebrews from slavery. This film shows how Moses begin his own personal transformation when God called Him. It depicts how he fulfilled God’s directive on his life, whether he wants it or not. This is a great movie, especially for Christians like us to reflect on.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy
Directed By: Ridley Scott
Release Date: December 12, 2014
Written By: Adam Cooper, Bill Collage
Runtime: 2 hours and 30minutes
Casts: Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
Short Background:
The Sacrament
If you are looking for some thrilling experience this holy week, this movie is perfect for you. Patrick, who received a mysterious letter from her sister, made his way, together with his team to go to Eden Parish to find his missing sister. The hair-raising journey of the team gave way for them to find out the strange community under the command of “Father”. They now wanted to leave the place but the Father had no intention to let them go. This film has a realistic plot and a terrifying mystery that depicts a realistic manipulation.
Samson
This film is based on the story of Samson in the Book of Judges. Samson, a Hebrew with an extraordinary strength is chosen by God to release the Israelites from Philistine’s oppression. The movie also shows Samson’s confusion and doubt about who he is as he prays for a sign from God to show that he is really on the right track.
It also emphasizes the strength that he has come from God as he prays and calls out to God to give him the strength to deliver the people from oppression. We can really learn a lot from Samson as we watch his story this holy week.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Drama
Directed By: Bruce Macdonald, Gabriel Sabloff
Release Date: February 16, 2018
Written By: Jason Baumgardner, Zach Smith
Runtime: 1 hour and 50 minutes
Casts: Taylor James, Billy Zane, Lindsay Wagner