Movies about God, Spirituality, Metaphysics, and Humanity
by danielendy | created - 18 Sep 2013 | updated - 24 Sep 2013 | PublicA list of some of the many films touch on the nature of God, both humorous and serious, reverent and irreverent.
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1. Oh, God! (1977)
PG | 98 min | Comedy, Fantasy
When God appears to an assistant grocery manager as a good natured old man, the Almighty selects him as his messenger for the modern world.
Director: Carl Reiner | Stars: John Denver, George Burns, Teri Garr, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 10,571 | Gross: $41.69M
2. Oh, God! Book II (1980)
PG | 94 min | Comedy, Fantasy
God asks a young girl to help spread his word and influence with a slogan.
Director: Gilbert Cates | Stars: George Burns, Suzanne Pleshette, David Birney, Louanne
Votes: 2,509 | Gross: $14.50M
3. Oh, God! You Devil (1984)
PG | 97 min | Comedy, Fantasy
George Burns returns as God, and as Satan. They battle over the soul of a young rock star who is willing to sell his soul to the devil.
Director: Paul Bogart | Stars: George Burns, Ted Wass, Ron Silver, Roxanne Hart
Votes: 2,739 | Gross: $21.54M
4. Bruce Almighty (2003)
PG-13 | 101 min | Comedy, Fantasy
A whiny news reporter is given the chance to step into God's shoes.
Director: Tom Shadyac | Stars: Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston, Morgan Freeman, Philip Baker Hall
Votes: 433,053 | Gross: $242.83M
God decides to take a vacation and Bruce is his stand-in.
5. Evan Almighty (2007)
PG | 96 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
God contacts Congressman Evan Baxter and tells him to build an ark in preparation for a great flood.
Director: Tom Shadyac | Stars: Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham, Johnny Simmons
Votes: 154,960 | Gross: $100.46M
An average modern-day guy is inspired to build an Ark.
6. Dogma (1999)
R | 130 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
An abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels trying to exploit a loop-hole and reenter Heaven.
Director: Kevin Smith | Stars: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Bud Cort
Votes: 228,495 | Gross: $30.65M
7. It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
PG | 130 min | Drama, Family, Fantasy
An angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed.
Director: Frank Capra | Stars: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell
Votes: 498,693
A man discovers what life would have been like if he had never been born.
8. Defending Your Life (1991)
PG | 112 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
In an afterlife way-station resembling a major city, the lives of the recently deceased are examined in a court-like setting.
Director: Albert Brooks | Stars: Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep, Rip Torn, Lee Grant
Votes: 21,223 | Gross: $16.37M
A hilarious imagining of the afterlife.
9. Michael (1996)
PG | 105 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Two tabloid reporters checking out a report of the Archangel Michael living with an old woman find that it's true. But that's not the only surprise.
Director: Nora Ephron | Stars: John Travolta, Andie MacDowell, William Hurt, Bob Hoskins
Votes: 45,046 | Gross: $95.32M
An angel comes to earth.
10. Groundhog Day (1993)
PG | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.
Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott, Stephen Tobolowsky
Votes: 684,156 | Gross: $70.91M
A man learns what really matters by reliving the same day.
11. What Dreams May Come (1998)
PG-13 | 113 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Chris Nielsen dies in an accident, and enters Heaven. But when he discovers that his beloved wife Annie has killed herself out of grief over the loss, he embarks on an afterlife adventure to reunite with her.
Director: Vincent Ward | Stars: Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr., Annabella Sciorra, Max von Sydow
Votes: 114,306 | Gross: $55.49M
A man experiences the afterlife but he's missing the love of his life.
12. Phenomenon (1996)
PG | 123 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
An ordinary man sees a bright light descend from the sky, and discovers he now has super-intelligence and telekinesis.
Director: Jon Turteltaub | Stars: John Travolta, Kyra Sedgwick, Forest Whitaker, Robert Duvall
Votes: 83,725 | Gross: $104.64M
A man becomes brilliant beyond belief and people don't know how to react to him.
13. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,050,077 | Gross: $171.48M
A man discovers that reality is an illusion.
14. Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)
R | 88 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A film set in a strange afterlife way station that has been reserved for people who have committed suicide.
Director: Goran Dukic | Stars: Patrick Fugit, Shea Whigham, Tom Waits, Will Arnett
Votes: 57,674 | Gross: $0.32M
15. Meet Joe Black (1998)
PG-13 | 178 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Death, who takes the form of a young man killed in an accident, asks a media mogul to act as his guide to teach him about life on Earth and, in the process, he falls in love with the mogul's daughter.
Director: Martin Brest | Stars: Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins, Claire Forlani, Jake Weber
Votes: 264,534 | Gross: $44.62M
The grim reaper decides to see what life is like.
16. Wings of Desire (1987)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
An angel tires of his purely ethereal life of merely overseeing the human activity of Berlin's residents, and longs for the tangible joys of physical existence when he falls in love with a mortal.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois
Votes: 76,858 | Gross: $3.33M
17. Ghost (1990)
PG-13 | 127 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.
Director: Jerry Zucker | Stars: Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn
Votes: 235,687 | Gross: $217.63M
A man comes back as a spirit to save the love of his life.
18. Dragonfly (2002)
PG-13 | 104 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A grieving doctor is being contacted by his deceased wife through his patients' near death experiences.
Director: Tom Shadyac | Stars: Kevin Costner, Susanna Thompson, Joe Morton, Ron Rifkin
Votes: 39,944 | Gross: $30.32M
19. The Ten Commandments (1956)
G | 220 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Moses, raised as a prince of Egypt in the Pharaoh's household, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people from slavery.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson
Votes: 77,754 | Gross: $93.74M
The epic film that brought the old testament to life.
20. Life of Brian (1979)
R | 94 min | Comedy
Born on the original Christmas in the stable next door to Jesus Christ, Brian of Nazareth spends his life being mistaken for a messiah.
Director: Terry Jones | Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam
Votes: 421,625 | Gross: $20.05M
The humorous story of a reluctant messiah.
21. Contact (1997)
PG | 150 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Dr. Ellie Arroway, after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, sending plans for a mysterious machine.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt
Votes: 292,828 | Gross: $100.92M
An interstellar transmission is decoded and an astronaut learns the truth about reality.
22. The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2004 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 180 min | Drama, Fantasy
An elderly amusement park maintenance man, Eddie, is trapped in purgatory and the only way out is to confront five people from his past. Unfortunately, dark secrets from his service in the Philippines begin to haunt him.
Director: Lloyd Kramer | Stars: Jon Voight, Ellen Burstyn, Jeff Daniels, Dagmara Dominczyk
Votes: 6,135
23. Jesus Christ Superstar (1973)
G | 106 min | Drama, History, Musical
Film version of the musical stage play, presenting the last few weeks of Christ's life told in an anachronistic manner.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson, Yvonne Elliman, Barry Dennen
Votes: 29,860 | Gross: $24.48M
24. The Man from Earth (2007)
Not Rated | 87 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.
Director: Richard Schenkman | Stars: David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, John Billingsley, Ellen Crawford
Votes: 199,952
25. The Sixth Sense (1999)
PG-13 | 107 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist, starts treating a young boy, Cole, who encounters dead people and convinces him to help them. In turn, Cole helps Malcolm reconcile with his estranged wife.
Director: M. Night Shyamalan | Stars: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams
Votes: 1,050,126 | Gross: $293.51M
A man discovers the unexpected about life and the afterlife.
26. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,448,754 | Gross: $96.90M
In the midst of historic inhumanity one man decides to do what he can.
27. Gandhi (1982)
PG | 191 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Rohini Hattangadi, Roshan Seth
Votes: 240,096 | Gross: $52.77M
The power of peace overcoming the power of war.
28. The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
Approved | 180 min | Biography, Drama, Family
During World War II, a teenage Jewish girl named Anne Frank and her family are forced into hiding in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Millie Perkins, Shelley Winters, Joseph Schildkraut, Richard Beymer
Votes: 13,680 | Gross: $5.01M
29. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)
R | 148 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
A young girl receives a vision that drives her to rid France of its oppressors.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Rab Affleck, Stéphane Algoud
Votes: 69,663 | Gross: $14.28M
30. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
Director: Roberto Benigni | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano
Votes: 742,382 | Gross: $57.60M
31. Hereafter (2010)
PG-13 | 129 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
An American construction worker, a French journalist and a London school boy set out on a spiritual journey after death touches their lives in different ways.
Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Matt Damon, Cécile de France, Bryce Dallas Howard, Thierry Neuvic
Votes: 95,441 | Gross: $32.75M
What happens when a man can't control his connection to the spirit world.
32. The Tree of Life (2011)
PG-13 | 139 min | Drama, Fantasy
The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken
Votes: 184,002 | Gross: $13.30M
33. Good Will Hunting (1997)
R | 126 min | Drama, Romance
Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 1,066,134 | Gross: $138.43M
A brilliant man's search for meaning.
34. The Help (2011)
PG-13 | 146 min | Drama
An aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.
Director: Tate Taylor | Stars: Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard
Votes: 492,107 | Gross: $169.71M
35. The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
PG-13 | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The affair between a politician and a contemporary dancer is affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart.
Director: George Nolfi | Stars: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Lisa Thoreson, Florence Kastriner
Votes: 270,000 | Gross: $62.50M
What are the limits of destiny? Are we truly free?
36. The Seventh Seal (1957)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Fantasy
A knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe
Votes: 198,248
37. Conversations with God (2006)
PG | 109 min | Adventure, Drama
Chronicles the dramatic true journey of a struggling man turned homeless, who inadvertently becomes a spiritual messenger and bestselling author.
Director: Stephen Deutsch | Stars: Henry Czerny, Michelle Merring, Frederick Charles Canada, Bill Geislinger
Votes: 2,495 | Gross: $0.42M
A man begins a conversation with God that changes his life and the lives of many others.
38. The Celestine Prophecy (2006)
PG | 99 min | Adventure, Drama
An adaptation of James Redfield's novel about the search for a sacred manuscript in the Peruvian rain forest.
Director: Armand Mastroianni | Stars: Matthew Settle, Thomas Kretschmann, Sarah Wayne Callies, Annabeth Gish
Votes: 4,029 | Gross: $0.62M
39. Messiah (2001)
152 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After two horribly mutilated bodies are discovered, DCI Red Metcalfe is assigned to the case and plunged head-on into a nightmare.
Stars: Ken Stott, Frances Grey, Jamie Draven, Kieran O'Brien
Votes: 2,074
40. Resurrection (1980)
PG | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy
A woman enters the afterlife briefly after a car crash that kills her husband. But she survives - and finds herself possessing strange powers.
Director: Daniel Petrie | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Sam Shepard, Richard Farnsworth, Roberts Blossom
Votes: 3,416 | Gross: $3.91M
41. Angels in America (2003)
TV-MA | 59 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Several disparate but connected individuals go through the AIDS crisis in the mid-1980s.
Stars: Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Mary-Louise Parker
Votes: 29,752
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