Entertainment Forum General Chat Thread • Page 1147

idk if this is the most appropriate place to ask, so if it isn't i can ask somewhere else.

looking for some recommendations. for a while i've wanted to put together a list of films & TV shows that take a unique or critical look at religion. as someone who professionally studies the interplay between religion and society and as someone who grew up in an Evangelical Christian tradition (which i have not been a part of in a decade), i've been interested in exploring media that explores a) earnest depictions of religious doubt/questioning and b) how organized religion acts as a social catalyst and detriment (i.e. a more sociological perspective). works in both of these categories would ideally take a more critical or abstract approach in depicting religion, challenging audiences to come to their own interpretations rather than spoon-feeding them answers or appearing overtly propagandistic (i.e. bullshit like God's Not Dead).

over the past decade, i've come across a few films (i.e. Silence, First Reformed, Saint Maud) and TV shows (i.e. Evil, Midnight Mass) that do an excellent job at this, but i'm looking to discover more. as of right now, most of what i watch limits itself to exploring western, Christian traditions, and leans a little more psychological/horror-adjacent than anything else. any recommendations are fine, but it'd be interesting to explore media depicting non-Christian traditions and other genres. if y'all have any good picks, feel free to share.

 

I think season 2 of “Fleabag” kind of gets into that iirc.

 

A Serious Man is a somewhat recent film about the difficulty of living up to the expectations of Judaism.

 

i love Fleabag so much, but that plot feels more like a B-plot than a primary focus

 

i've heard good things about this

 

I’ve never seen it but does six feet under fit what you’re looking for?

 

never seen it either, only know about its finale and that Michael C. Hall is in it, lol.

 

The Path is great but isn't specifically Christianity, but rather a fictional religion/cult

 

i've heard great things about this one. cult-based media could be really interesting in exploring collectivist dynamics.

 

Feel like there are a lot of good documentaries

 

Going Clear and The Family are the first that come to mind, although i think i'm more interested in fictional narratives, almost as an antithesis to the bullshit that is usually marketed as "religious art"

 

under the banner of heaven on hulu was pretty in depth on CLDS re: the cover up of a murder in the 80s

 

also heard great things about this one

 

If you find yourself in a documentary series mood, check out wild wild country and keep sweet, pray, obey

 

The Seventh Seal
The Last Temptation of Christ
Doubt
Take Shelter
The Master

 

trying to remember, The Master is Scientology-adjacent, correct? heard pretty good things about most of these (haven't heard of Take Shelter until just now)

 

oh shit, should've added Signs to my original list

 

Take shelter is great

 

yeah Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character is pretty blatantly L Ron Hubbard. Phoenix’s character is an aimless WW2 vet who joins Hoffman’s group. To say it’s *just* about religion/cults is a disservice to how brilliant and multifaceted it is imo, but it’s a good example of how religious groups can serve more as a communal entity than a spiritual one

 

i get that. i'm assuming it's not pushing the religious element to the background? because i think i'm less interested in religion as a backdrop/setting/small plot element and nothing else

 

I mean it’s not a documentary. The details of what the religion believes are generally inconsequential and not touched upon that much, outside of “this stuff is basically crazy nonsense and people outside the group don’t take it seriously.” But it’s very much about a “religious” organization / leader, and one particular member that gets swept up in it

And it’s also worth watching just as one of the best movies ever tbh

 

watching eraserhead, my first lynch movie

 

The Last Temptation of Christ does more to make Jesus’s tribulations relatable than the ~12yrs of Catholic school I went through

 

David Lynch probably had this exact same thought the first time he watched Eraserhad

 

that's what i figured. i think it would probably fit within the criteria of what i'm looking for from what you're saying, especially if you can analyze the organization/institution itself (which is primarily what i study).