Best movies like Beyond the Heavens

A vivid, dynamic Southern coming-of-age drama, takes place in the transitional space between high school and college, when life seems to be all questions and no answers, and the future is scarily wide open. Set in and around a Charleston, SC Baptist church, weaving through this ensemble piece are three main characters - Brea, an introspective pastor's daughter experiencing debilitating doubt, the hyperactive Laura, Brea's best friend and a devout believer, and Tim, the open-hearted son of a single father, confronting his homosexuality for the first time. Tensions and buried feelings abound, as colleges are chosen and adults behave badly, as Brea, Laura and Tim attempt to hang onto what they have, all the while yearning to break free.

Two men--a gay, HIV-positive artist and an adopted garbage collector--struggle in the face of stigma and loss to find meaning in work, love, and family.

When Tragedy Strikes three Families, their Destiny forces them on a coverging path and mercy as the challenges of their fate could also resurrect their beliefs

The story is about a 12 year old girl who loses her mother in an automobile accident. Her father struggles with the loss of his wife and trying to raise his young daughter who believes her father is partly responsible for her mother's death. Belle's maternal grandfather is a changed man since losing his daughter in the accident. He finds it difficult to have a relationship with Belle since she is a constant reminder of her mother. It is Atticus the new puppy who will change Belle's life and the lives of those who love her

In Victorian England, wealthy patriarch Sir Harald Alabaster invites an impoverished biologist, William Adamson, into his home. There, William tries to continue his work, but is distracted by Alabaster's seductive daughter, Eugenia. William and Eugenia begin a torrid romance, but as the couple become closer, the young scientist begins to realize that dark, disturbing things are happening behind the closed doors of the Alabaster manor.

A young man struggles to access sublimated childhood memories. He finds a technique that allows him to travel back into the past, to occupy his childhood body and change history. However, he soon finds that every change he makes has unexpected consequences.

Two stories separated by 1400 years. After losing his mother in the midst of a war-torn country, an Iraqi child learns the importance and power of patience by discovering the historical story of Lady Fatima and her suffering.

The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.

Vera Farmiga's directorial debut, HIGHER GROUND, depicts the landscape of a tight-knit spiritual community thrown off-kilter when one of their own begins to question her faith. Inspired by screenwriter Carolyn S. Briggs' memoir This Dark World, the film tells the story of a thoughtful woman's struggles with belief, love, and trust - in human relationships as well as in God.

Through a series of real and imagined encounters with angels, demons, and England's pagan past, a pastor's son begins to question his religion and politics, and comes to terms with his sexuality.

Pete, an eight-year-old Catholic boy growing up in the suburbs of Chicago in the mid-1970s, attends Catholic school, where as classes let out for the summer, he's admonished by a nun to follow the path of the Lord, and not that of the Devil. Perhaps taking this message a bit too seriously, Pete decides it's his goal for the summer to help someone get into heaven - by trying to convert a Jew to Catholicism.

A Christian girl, Rachel Whitaker (Jordan Trovillion) goes off to college for her freshman year and begins to be influenced by her popular Biology professor (Harry Anderson) who teaches that evolution is the answer to the origins of life. When Rachel’s father, Stephen Whitaker (Jay Pickett) senses something changing with his daughter, he begins to examine the situation and what he discovers catches him completely off guard. Now very concerned about Rachel drifting away from her Christian faith, he tries to do something about it!

Jake loves living in Chicago but when big city violence hits a little too close to home his parents buy a campground in rural Minnesota and move the family there. Jake hates living at the campground until he meets Peter, the boy across the river. The two quickly become best friends and spend a fun-filled summer together on the river. In one of their conversations, Peter shares his Christian faith with Jake. Jake uses his new faith to help a friend through a tragedy.

Louis is a twelve year old boy who lives with his parents and older brother in southern Morocco. Louis is very happy until the day his father shares a secret with him.

When 20-year old Nathan loses his career and his girlfriend, he questions his purpose in life. Compounding his struggle, Nathan grew up in a foster home and never met his birth mother. He sets out on a quest to find his mother and somehow come to terms with her rejection of him. His journey begins by flying to the city where he was born. Upon his arrival, Nathan checks into a hotel and meets Mave the hotel's housekeeper. Encouraged by Mave's wisdom and the help of hotel guest Shelly, Nathan finds the address of his mother, Linda. Linda is a social worker who agonizes over the decision she made with Nathan 20 years ago. In an effort to admonish the guilt of giving up her son, Linda is caught up in the life of a teenage mother-to-be, Tori, who is conflicted by the decision to abort her baby. When Nathan gathers the courage to meet his mother, he uncovers a terrible secret that totally redefines what was meant to be for his life.

A ski-shop owner reluctantly moves himself, his wife, and his daughter in to an estate as live-in help for an elderly widow. While struggling to balance his career and family life, he has recurring dreams about an angel.

A young couple faces the realities of life with their child who is diagnosed with AIDS.

After a violent incident in Lucy's public school, her atheist parents Stuart and Alison decide to find her a safe 'traditional' school. The only one they can afford is St. Mary of the Veil, run by nuns whose 'preference' for Catholic families is de facto exclusivity, given the waiting list. So they pose as devout, and get his murky mate Eddie to find them a priest they can 'bribe' for a parish reference, while Lucy is genuinely converted. It works, but when Stuart overhears a dark secret things take a tragic turn.

As we follow a mother and her son, we delve into a past marred by an accident that tears them apart. She will become a renowned artist and healer, and he will grow into his own and a peculiar falconer who bears the marks of a double absence. In the present, a young journalist will bring about an encounter between the two that puts the very meaning of life and art into question, so that we may contemplate the possibility of living life to its fullest, despite the uncertainties littering our paths.

Outcast by most of the children in the junior high school he attends, Tobey Marshall has been deeply traumatized by the death of his parents at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Living with his Uncle Nick and Jannah, Tobey is a loner who has created his own world where he believes he is protected by a guardian angel. A young girl named Suzy, whose own beliefs are in question, befriends Tobey and by doing so discovers that they have more in common than she ever expected. Suzy has captured the fancy of Jim Doder, a popular basketball player at school, who leads a double life as a gang leader in a series of local home burglaries. When Suzy rejects Jim's affections, and her relationship with Tobey continues, Jim makes life difficult for the both of them. After one of Doder's gang is arrested in a botched burglary attempt, Tobey is framed. In the dramatic and exciting climax, Tobey must prove his innocence to Suzy and the whole school by facing reality and confronting Jim Doder in public.

Bernard Fine's career leaves little time for romance, so fate takes over. When Bernie befriends a little girl, he meets - and falls for - her single mother, Liz. They soon marry and add a son to their new family. But the happiness is short-lived as Liz is fatally stricken by cancer. Added to the heartbreak is a threat from the past that could tear the family apart. For Bernie, it's a struggle to hold on to and savor the truly fine things in life.

Following both the death of her father-in-law and a divorce, Jesse, a New Yorker, returns to a small town to live with her now widowed mother-in-law. Jesse struggles to fit in with the local townsfolk who don’t welcome her with open arms to say the least. Jesse becomes acquainted with the local pastor, her widowed brother-in-law, falling in love with him, much to the dismay of the community. Things get even more complicated when her ex-husband comes calling, suspiciously trying to win her back. Between her love life and entangled in-laws, Jesse is tested as she seeks the answer to where she truly belongs.

Disaster unfolds when a meteor strikes a small town, turning the environment uninhabitable and killing everything in the surrounding area. Exobiologist Lauren Stone is called to find answers to the unearthly event. As she begins to uncover the truth, imminent danger awakens and it becomes a race against time to save mankind.

A young boy fighting cancer writes letters to God, touching lives in his neighborhood and inspiring hope among everyone he comes in contact. An unsuspecting substitute postman, with a troubled life of his own, becomes entangled in the boy's journey and his family by reading the letters. They inspire him to seek a better life for himself and his own son he's lost through his alcohol addiction.

A young girl's faith is tested, when her parents are suddenly killed in a car accident and she's forced to move in with relatives who don't share her belief in God. A talented singer, who desires to worship God with her songs, she finds herself in a new city, a new school and no friends. With her uncle and others at school challenging her faith, one boy emerges, who seems to see the greatness in her. Now she must come to grips with either fitting in or following God - which could cost her more than just her faith.

David, a widower, is working himself to death. Late nights doing paperwork and running on fumes is normal. Bills are piling up by the week, and foreclosure looms on the horizon. Blaming God for his wife's death, he ends his relationship with the church. Steven, the remaining Christian of the household, has been watching his father's unhealthy lifestyle with great concern. With help from his grandpa and best friend Maggie, Steven reaches out to his father in any way he can. Despite his grieving and worsening financial problems, David begins seeking an answer to the question haunting him since his wife's death...WHY? STANDING FIRM is a story of suffering, God's purpose in it, and being joyful despite it.

High School senior Luke Harris dreams of just one thing... pro surfing. But Luke's parents have other ideas: pick a college and grow up! When Luke learns that a spot is opening up on the local surf team, he see's his big chance to prove to his parents that he can make it as a surfer and avoid being shipped off to school. When a devastating tragedy strikes, Luke is forced to take a hard look at his life with the help of the beautiful "church-girl" Emily and his youth pastor.

Seth McArdle (Samuel Davis) is a high school senior with an especially full plate. Not only must he navigate the usual social and academic pitfalls of high school, but he has to contend with his young twin sisters, serving as de facto parent in the absence of his deceased mother and deadbeat father. The pressure mounts when the bank calls with a foreclosure warning, and Seth's frustrations spill over into various altercations with the school football team. An exasperated coach exiles Seth to work after school with Abel the eccentric groundskeeper (Kevin Sorbo). Their relationship starts off cold and rocky, but as the two spend more time together, they realize they have more in common than either thought. The downside: it's pretty much pain and sadness that they share. The upside: God loves them.

Having lost his faith many years ago, Detective Bill Broadly is called to investigate the disappearance of the local church's collection plate. As he questions its various church members, rumors swirl as more congregants learn about the theft. When one unexpected church-goer confesses to stealing the funds, the confession resurrects Broadly's views on God, and helps him see that through faith and belief there really is rebirth and redemption.

This heartwarming story follows two families that are brought together by tragedy but forever joined through faith. Devin Wheeler and Matthew Daniels are loving, hard working men who believe in God, family, and helping others. Their lives quickly turn into a search for peace and understanding when a single horrific event impacts everything that they have ever loved. While Devin looks to his faith for strength, guidance, and refuge; Matthew shuns his faith placing blame and demanding answers. As the landscape of their lives continues to change, each man handles the road ahead in a very different fashion. An unlikely friendship would soon form, causing both men to meet at a crossroads faced with the same question...Would you love God for nothing?

Professor Charles Bando is estranged from his family, who blame him for the kidnapping of his grandson. God works in miraculous ways, including using a piece of glass from the Holy Land, to bring healing and reconciliation.

Joy is fresh out of college looking to start her career in the marketing field. She finally lands her dream job with Prime Marketing Agency only to find out it's not what it seems. Struggling to balance work and her marriage, Joy finds herself trying to put the pieces of her life back together before her new career ruins it forever.

Adapted from the book by Charles Tazewell. Michael, a shepherd boy living in Biblical times, finds himself transported to Heaven on his eighth birthday. Michael doesn't fully understand where he is, or why he's there. A guardian angel named Patience is given the task of showing Michael the joys of Heaven and helping him find his place in the Hereafter.

Based on the short film of the same name. When a young minister struggles with the death of his only son, he is forced to question his faith as he searches for meaning in a time of suffering.

A couple struggling to conceive receives an antique watch from a stranger, leading the wife to realize that the answers she seeks will come in due time.