Best movies like Julia Sweeney - Letting Go of God

The abortion battle continues to rage in unexpected ways on one corner in an American city.

A heart-stirring meditation on time, memory and mortality, “Of Time and the City” is Terence Davies’ poetic, conflicted ode to his birthplace of Liverpool, England. The visual content of the film consists largely of archival clips of the city from the 1940s to the 1960s, their nostalgic charm darkened by accompanying music and the counterpoint of Davies’ dry, at times dyspeptic, voice-over narration. His voice thickens with emotion as he recalls the delights of juvenile movie-going or the ritual of a holiday trip to New Brighton, across the River Mersey, and hardens with contempt when he turns his gaze on the hoopla surrounding Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953. The film is a powerful evocation of the director's youth in post-war Britain and a reflection on how his home city has changed over the years.

John H. Groberg, a middle class kid from Idaho Falls, crosses the Pacific to become a Mormon missionary in the remote and exotic Tongan island kingdom during the 1950's. He leaves behind a loving family and the true love of his life, Jean. Through letters and musings across the miles, John shares his humbling and sometimes hilarious adventures with "the girl back home", and her letters buoy up his spirits in difficult times. John must struggle to overcome language barriers, physical hardship and deep-rooted suspicion to earn the trust and love of the Tongan people he has come to serve. Throughout his adventure-filled three years on the islands, he discovers friends and wisdom in the most unlikely places. John H. Groberg's Tongan odyssey will change his life forever.

Commentator-comic Bill Maher plays devil's advocate with religion as he talks to believers about their faith. Traveling around the world, Maher examines the tenets of Christianity, Judaism and Islam and raises questions about homosexuality, proof of Christ's existence, Jewish Sabbath laws, violent Muslim extremists.

Jesus Camp follows children at a Christian summer camp as they hone their "prophetic gifts" and are schooled in how to "take back America for Christ." The film is a first-ever look into an intense training ground that recruits born-again Christian children to become an active part of America's political future.

When Kelly meets Victor on the dance floor of a Liverpool nightclub, the attraction is instant. After wandering through the night they find themselves at her flat, making love with a passion and urgency that neither had experienced before. Both Kelly and Victor are struggling to get by as best they can, while the people around them are choosing illegal lifestyles; she is escaping a brutish former lover, while he is being dragged into a world of drugs. It's when they make love that their darker instincts take over.

This engrossing dramatization of the life of Abraham, the most tested servant of God and the father of Judaism, spans from the patriarch's quest for the Promised Land to the sacrifice of his son, Isaac.

In a rundown area of Buenos Aires, at the dawn of the 1980s, Adrian LeDuc owns both a struggling movie theater and a shabby apartment building filled with eccentric, squabbling tenants. To make ends meet, Adrian takes in a roommate, Jack Carney, but soon begins to suspect that the quiet American is responsible for a series of political assassinations that are rocking the city.

Mother and daughter - Big Edie and Little Edie Beale - live with six cats in a crumbling house in East Hampton. Little Edie, in her 50s, who wears scarves and bright colors, sings, mugs for the camera, and talks to Al and David Maysles, the filmmakers. Big Edie, in her 70s, recites poetry, comments on her daughter's behavior, and sings "If I Loved You" in fine voice. She talks in short sentences; her daughter in volumes. The film is episodic: friends visit, there's a small fire in the house, Little Edie goes to the shore and swims. She talks about the Catholic Church. She's ashamed that local authorities raided the house because of all the cats. She values being different.

Missionary Father LaForgue travels to the New World in hopes of converting Algonquin Indians to Catholicism. Accepted, though warily, by the Indians, LaForgue travels with the Indians using his strict Catholic rules and ideals to try and impose his religion.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey is American author Thornton Wilder's second novel, first published in 1927 to worldwide acclaim. It tells the story of several interrelated people who die in the collapse of an Inca rope-fiber suspension bridge in Peru, and the events that lead up to their being on the bridge. A friar who has witnessed the tragic accident then goes about inquiring into the lives of the victims, seeking some sort of cosmic answer to the question of why each had to die.

The year is 1890 and Bible professor Russell Carlisle has written a new manuscript entitled "The Changing Times". His colleague, Dr. Norris Anderson, believes that what Carlisle has written could greatly affect the future of coming generations and, using his secret time machine, Anderson sends Carlisle over 100 years into the future, offering him a glimpse of where his beliefs will lead.

Having lived through traumatizing events during WWII, Father Lankester Merrin takes a sabbatical from the Church to conduct archaeological excavations in British-administered East Africa. Merrin unearths an ancient Byzantine church believed have been built and then immediately buried to keep down evil from the crypt below. The natives are convinced that uncovering the church has unleashed a demon, and begin to violently clash with the British military troops. As the village rapidly disintegrates into chaos and war, Merrin must face-off with the demon which has taken possession of somebody close to him.

Christian, a hunky, 20-something, West Hollywood party boy gets more than he bargains for when he tries to seduce 19-year-old Elder Aaron Davis, a sexually confused Mormon missionary who moves into his apartment complex.

Life as a Mormon missionary isn't what 19-year-old Brandon Allen expected: so many rules and so few successes. Los Angeles is as unrepentant as Sodom and Gomorrah. He's forced to share a small apartment with five young prank-loving missionaries and, to top it off, his first companion, 29-year-old Marcus Dalton, proves to be a harsh mentor. After only one day as a missionary, Allen is ready to hang up his necktie and go home. Allen becomes a part of the drama occurring under the everyday surface of missionary life. After only a few intense days, Allen finds faith he didn't know he had, and courage he didn't know he lacked. He learns that the time has come to put away childish things, and to become more than just a man--to become a man of God.

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.

The Falls is a feature film about two missionaries that fall in love while on their mission. RJ travels to a small town in Oregon with Elder Merrill to serve their mission and teach the words of Joseph Smith. Living together and sharing the challenge of leaving home, the two men help each other discover their strengths. They share a passion for their faith and learn to express their feelings, risking the only community they have for a forbidden intimacy.

From the outside, Alexa has the perfect life. Her son is the high school football star, daughter a straight A student and her husband is CFO of a booming start-up company. The sudden death ...

A young woman with no strong religious beliefs, Frankie Paige begins having strange and violent experiences, showing signs of the wounds that Jesus received when crucified. When the Vatican gets word of Frankie's situation, a high-ranking cardinal requests that the Rev. Andrew Kiernan investigate her case. Soon Kiernan realizes that very sinister forces are at work, and tries to rescue Frankie from the entity that is plaguing her.

A bored insurance salesman quits his job to go into politics. He first starts preaching about how man is greater than he thinks and that man can live forever. He ends up forming his own political party, "The Eternal Man" party. He begins to be referred to as "God". Then he starts having doubts about the eternalness of man.

Jonas Nightengale is a fraudulent Christian faith healer who makes a living travelling around America holding revival meetings and conducting 'miracles' with the help of his friend and manager, Jane, and their entourage.

A portrayal of the early Latter-day Saints' joys, sacrifices, hopes, and trials; their epic journey to the Salt Lake Valley; and their legacy of faith in Jesus Christ.

The lives of three 12-year-old buddies -- sharing a carefree existence in the summer of 1970 -- suddenly change when one of them, Dustin, makes an unexpected friend after cutting the lawn of 75-year-old Jonathan Sperry. As Jonathan shares lessons in faith with Dustin and his pals, a spiritual transformation occurs in this Christian drama.

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.

An inside glimpse of how it feels to be a teen in today's disconnected world. PURGATORY HOUSE chronicles the after-life journey of Silver Strand: a lonely teen who abandons her life of turmoil and drug addiction, only to find herself caught somewhere between heaven and hell. There, she must choose whether she will accept her drab existence or discover within herself the power to change.

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!

The mesmerizing story of a young girl's romance with God. Her faith, trials, and sacrifices reveal a way of life based on love and simplicity. A contemplative film based on the true story of Saint Therese of Lisieux, the most popular saint of modern times.

A group of people inside an underground complex which possesses high tech computers which tracks world events consider all options as nuclear war is at hand, air supplies may last only eight days and Biblical prophesy unfolds.

Teen friends, Steve, Carrie, Cooper, and Gameboy embark on a weekend camping trip lead by their church youth group leader Stuart (Sean Astin) and his wife Beth (Erin Bethea). Joining them is an outsider Ashley, a self-involved rich kid, whose attitude causes a major commotion within the group, specifically between her and Carrie. Before it gets too out of hand though, Stuart takes this opportunity to share with the kids the incredibly powerful biblical story of Hosea; a story of immovable faith, impeccable commitment, and impervious love.

Imagine Dragons’ Mormon frontman Dan Reynolds is taking on a new mission to explore how the church treats its LGBTQ members. With the rising suicide rate amongst teens in the state of Utah, his concern with the church’s policies sends him on an unexpected path for acceptance and change.

A man confronts the trauma of past sexual abuse as a boy by a Catholic priest only to find his decision shatters his relationships with his family, community and faith.

The Vatican sends a priest to verify some miracles, performed by a woman who has been nominated for sainthood...

Two pairs of Mormon missionaries from America live in a beaten-up apartment in the Dutch city of Haarlem. Their personalities are distinctly different. Elder Johnson is the District Leader and oversees their efforts. His companion, the vain Elder Van Pelt, seeks to become the assistant to the mission president (the top post available) as soon as possible. The capable Elder Rogers has become disillusioned and inattentive to his duties ever since a previous missionary companion returned to America and married Elder Roger's girlfriend. The three meet Elder Roger's new companion, Elder Calhoun, in the train station. This new elder is a nerdy but enthusiastic "greenie" that has just arrived from the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Utah. Unfortunately, his training did not give him much fluency in the Dutch language. But as luck would have it, the first person he approaches to proselytize is a fellow American named Kyle.

The Late, Great Planet Earth is the title of a best-selling 1970 book co-authored by Hal Lindsey and Carole C. Carlson, and first published by Zondervan. The book was adapted in 1979 into a movie. The Late, Great Planet Earth is a treatment of literalist, premillennial, dispensational eschatology. As such, it compared end-time prophecies in the Bible with then-current events in an attempt to broadly predict future scenarios leading to the rapture of believers before the tribulation and Second Coming of Christ to establish his thousand-year (i.e. millennial) Kingdom on Earth.

In 13th century Italy, Francis Bernardone, the son of an Assisi merchant, renounces a promising army career in favor of a monastic life and starts his own religious order, sanctioned by the Pope.

An inspirational true story. On what seemed like any other day, Elders Travis Tuttle (Corbin Allred) and Andrew Propst (Maclain Nelson) are approached by Nikolai (Nikita Bogolyubov) to teach a friend. But then the missionaries experience the unimaginable - they are kidnapped, beaten, and held for ransom. While their families, friends, and the world pray for their safe release, Tuttle and Propst are tested physically, emotionally, and most of all spiritually.

A biopic of Martin Luther, covering his life between 1505 and 1530, and the birth of the Protestant Reformation movement.

We follow the daily activities of Mother Teresa and her nuns, in service to the poor of India and the world. Mother Teresa attends to the basic needs of her nuns and the poor, while at the same time, balances her role as world-recognized leader. Throughout the film, we witness personal and "behind-the-scenes" events, including the blessing ceremony of a nun becoming part of Mother Teresa's "Sisters of the Poor" convent.

Learn how one man reluctantly took on the most powerful institution of his day and won. Martin Luther is credited with expounding a new vision of man's relationship with God and, by extension, a redefinition of man's relationship with authority. Filmed across Europe -- from the rustic rural Germany to the opulence of the Vatican City -- you'll witness the collapse of the medieval world and the birth of the modern age.

Elder Johnson (Darin Southam) is a hard working, by-the-book missionary who is near the end of his service but has yet to see any fruit from his labors. His companion, the laid-back elder Sarath (Charan Prabhakar), has had lots of baptisms, even though obedience isn't his strongest attribute. A chance discovery of an old journal leads the Elders (and the other missionaries in the area) on a treasure hunt. Relying on each others strengths, they strive to solve the clues, which lead them to an unexpected reward!

This highly acclaimed feature film on Pope John Paul II was filmed on location in Italy and Poland. Focusing on the papacy of John Paul and the tremendous impact he had on the Church and the world, Karol: The Pope, The Man stars actor Piotr Adamczyk in a deeply moving portrayal of the beloved pontiff. It is the powerful true story of a charismatic spiritual leader who helped bring down Communism, renewed the life of the Church, greatly impacted youth worldwide with love for Christ, and a Pope who reached out to other religions and world leaders with a message of peace and love. Also stars Raoul Bova (Saint Francis), Michele Placido (Padre Pio: Between Heaven and Earth) and Adriana Asti as Mother Teresa. The beautiful film score is by legendary film composer Ennio Morricone.

A young, modern single woman enters the world of online dating looking for an instant soul mate.

Julia Sweeney tells the viewers the monologue about the hard time in her life when her brother fought with cancer and she was also diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Documentary written and presented by scientist Richard Dawkins, in which he seeks to expose "those areas of belief that exist without scientific proof, yet manage to hold the nation under their spell", including mediumship, psychokinesis, acupuncture, and other forms of alternative medicine.

"An Ensign to the Nations" was made by the LDS Church's Audiovisual Department, with Russ Holt as the producer. With so much attention paid to the early history of the church during its sesquicentennial year, Holt said the movie depicts church history from 1847 to 1997. It makes clear that the pioneer trek wasn't the end - but rather the beginning - of an epic story that continues to grow larger with each passing year.

Ty Bounds, a workaholic as a computer programmer for 35 years, has retired. No longer forced to work for a living, he seeks how he can spend his time serving God. Following the lead of the Holy Spirit, he returns to college to wage war against secular humanism and to mentor a new generation in truth seeking.

Jackson and Tony have been best friends since the Vietnam War bonded the two men with different worldviews. Tony dutifully informs his best buddy that they can be best friends until death does them part, but until Jackson gets right with God, they can never be best friends eternally. Despite Tony's persistence in preaching the gospel, that friendship thrives in the same fashion between the atheist and the Christian for about forty years, until Madison, Tony's granddaughter, arrives on the scene. While she is busy teaching Jackson about Jesus, her grandfather wanders off the straight and narrow course, compliments of an attractive lady, who despite being several years younger than the retired English professor, professes her love for Tony and lures him into her world.

Mother Teresa, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, is considered one of the greatest humanitarians of modern times. Her selfless commitment changed hearts, lives and inspired millions throughout the world. The Letters, as told through personal letters she wrote over the last 40 years of her life, reveal a troubled and vulnerable women who grew to feel an isolation and an abandonment by God.

A story about a small, dying town in need of hope until one day a young boy gives them something to believe in.

Sister Rachel Taylor of Boise, Idaho is an eager young missionary of the LDS Church who has been sent on an 18-month long mission to Austria. Rachel finds herself having a hard time adjusting to her new cultural surroundings in the foreign country. Due to differences in opinion, she is also unable to get along with the companion missionary that was assigned to her by the church.