Best movies like The Cardinal
A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like The Cardinal Starring Matheson Lang, Eric Portman, Robert Atkins, O.B. Clarence, and more. If you liked The Cardinal then you may also like: The Woman Who Sinned, Our Fathers, The Abdication, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Cyrano de Bergerac and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.
Set in 15th-century Italy, The Cardinal stars Matheson Lang as one Cardinal de Medici. Bound by the rules of the confessional, the cardinal is unable to disclose the multitude of sins revealed to him by one of his most influential parishioners. De Medici's dilemma is compounded by the fact that the confessor has committed a murder for which the Cardinal's brother has been arrested. The basic plot gimmick was good for another go-round in the 1953 Hitchcock flick I Confess. This 7-reel British film was based on a play by Louis N. Parker.
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Our Fathers
In the '80s, priests and especially the Father Geoghan arrested for sexual abuse of minors. Cardinal Law, also indicted, and the diocese was aware of the actions of these men of the church and was kept secret for years, until the victims decide to seek redress.
The Abdication
Queen Christina of Sweden abdicates and travels to Rome to embrace the Catholic church.
The Agony and the Ecstasy
During the Italian Renaissance, Pope Julius II contracts the influential artist Michelangelo to sculpt 40 statues for his tomb. When the pope changes his mind and asks the sculptor to paint a mural in the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo doubts his painting skills and abandons the project. Divine inspiration returns Michelangelo to the mural, but his artistic vision clashes with the pope's demanding personality and threatens the success of the historic painting.
Cyrano de Bergerac
France, 1640. Cyrano, the charismatic swordsman-poet with the absurd nose, hopelessly loves the beauteous Roxane; she, in turn, confesses to Cyrano her love for the handsome but tongue-tied Christian. The chivalrous Cyrano sets up with Christian an innocent deception, with tragic results.
Double Indemnity
A scheming wife lures an insurance investigator into helping murder her husband and then declare it an accident. The investigator's boss, not knowing his man is involved in it, suspects murder and sets out to prove it.
Cardinal Richelieu
The cunning Cardinal Richelieu must save King Louis XIII from treachery within his inner circle.
House of Mortal Sin
Also known as 'The Confessional', another of Pete Walkers's critiques of institutional hypocrisy, in which a troubled young girl goes to confession at the local church. Unfortunately, the sexually frustrated priest she confesses to becomes obsessed with her. At first, the priest stalks the girl, but later it is revealed that he will stop at nothing, including blackmail and murder, just to get close to her.
Madtown
A stand-up comedian confesses to a murder on-stage at an open mic night to a shocked audience - his crime the result of a deadly triangle formed between his older sister, just released from prison after a 20-year stay for the murder of their parents, the loving bond he now shares with a caring surrogate family, and the ultimate choice he must make between them - his dysfunctional blood ties with his own sister, or his picturesque view of the ideal family.
Magic in the Water
Radio psychologist Jack Black takes his children Joshua and Ashley on a 'vacation' to a lake in British Columbia. While he grinds away at work the children discover that the famous local lake monster "Orky" may not be just a gimmick to attract tourists after all. In fact, Orky may enable them to get closer to their workaholic dad, and help stop local polluters who are dumping toxic waste.
Saving Grace
A newly-elected Pope Leo XIV finds himself accidentally locked out of the Vatican. Unknown to the outside world, he winds up in an impoverished Italian village, where his adventures ultimately teach the Pope and his new friends some important lessons about friendship and self-esteem. Written by Chris DeSantis
The Father Clements Story
In this provocative made-for-television drama, an African American Chicago priest takes on the Catholic church during his fight to adopt a troubled teen and save him from life on the streets.
Ben & Arthur
A pair of recently married gay men are threatened by one of the partners' brother, a religious fanatic who plots to murder them after being ostracized by his church.
Purgatory Road
Helpless to stop a thief from stealing his father’s modest nest egg, Travis grows up blaming himself for his parents’ suicide. Becoming a priest who operates a highway confessional with his ambivalent brother, Michael, he offers sage advice to chosen sinners while raining death on unrepentant thieves. Into the world of this antagonistic duo comes Mary Francis, a deranged young woman with psychopathic tendencies who kills a thief who threatens to expose the decidedly un-holy siblings. Filled with gratitude, Travis invites the woman into their sacred world which begins a chain of carnage-laced events that threaten to destroy the brothers’ bloody, decades-long partnership.
The Two Popes
Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict. Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.
Obsessed with a Married Woman
Jane Seymour makes a six-course meal of her starring role as a magazine editor in Obsessed With a Married Woman--indeed, her performance is the only tangible reason for sitting through this artistically bankrupt TV movie. The story contrives to have Seymour, happily married and the mother of a wise-lipped son, fall into the sack with her star reporter Tim Matheson. It seems that Jane has assigned Matheson to do a series of articles on mistresses. He does his homework so well that Jane takes him on as her own "male mistress."
The Third Miracle
The Vatican sends a priest to verify some miracles, performed by a woman who has been nominated for sainthood...
Galileo
Challenged by a new student, tutor and theorist Galileo co-opts emerging telescope technology and discovers irrefutable proof of the heretical notion that the earth is not the center of the universe. But in a rigid society ruled by an uneasy alliance of aristocracy and clergy already undermined by the Plague and the Reformation, science is a threat and enlightenment is a luxury. Faced with either death at the hands of the Inquisition or recantation to a hypocritical but all-powerful Papacy, Galileo must choose between his own life and the restless scientific curiosity that he has spurned family, friends, and wealth to pursue.
The Good Policeman
Isaac Seidel is a highly unconventional New York police-commissioner. He is well-abled in dealing with trouble at the headquarter, the maffia and situations in the streets. His loyalty to his profession and the city he so loves make him do the utmost to solve the problems, even if it means he has to bend the rules.
Brother's Keeper
The FBI sought the help of Lucinda Pond, a former agent of the body, to try to locate the author of a series of murders that allegedly may have committed his brother. Lucinda, who left the police years ago, decides to help reluctantly convinced by an old boyfriend. The tracks are directly related to the abuse that Lucinda and her brother suffered during his childhood, which seems to be in the suspect has caused a serious psychological disorder.
Mortal Sins
A thriller directed by Bradford May focusing on a catholic priest dealing with a serial killer's confession and a murder investigation.
Under the Red Robe
In 1620s France, dreaded swordsman Gil de Berault returns from carrying out a mission for Cardinal Richelieu, and finds the Cardinal worried about growing opposition from the Huguenots in the south. The Cardinal also warns de Berault that dueling has been outlawed, and will henceforth be punishable by death. Gil, however, promptly disobeys the law and is indeed sentenced to death. The Cardinal offers to cancel the sentence if de Berault is able to capture the duke who is organizing plans for an uprising. Gil travels to the duke's castle and is allowed to stay as a guest, but the duke's wife and sister immediately suspect that he is a spy. He and his servant still make good progress, until he falls in love with the duke's sister, which complicates everything.
The Conclave
In 1458, five years after the fall of Constantinople to the Turk, eighteen cardinals meet to elect a new pope. Rodrigo Borgia, a 27 year old cardinal learns to play a very dangerous game.
Karol: The Pope, The Man
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.
The Pride of St. Louis
The story of Jerome "Dizzy" Dean, a major-league baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs in the 1930s and 1940s.
The Saint Louis Browns: The Team That Baseball Forgot
St. Louis is viewed as one of the best baseball towns in America, however, the city's major league history is not confined to the Cardinals. For five decades, St. Louis fielded a second professional team - the St. Louis Browns. The Browns tendency to be remembered as a mere punchline has obscured their place in history, but their story is more than their reputation would suggest. It's the story of what could have been but never was. Of baseball legends lost to time. Of glorious gimmicks. As a beloved team turned fraternity of failure. This is the story of a team that found its place in history by losing its home. It's a story forgotten no more.
The Good Shepherd
When a clergyman is accused for the murder of a social worker, the parish priest recruits a reporter (and his ex-girlfriend) to clear his name.
The Confessional
Pierre Lamontagne has returned to Quebec to attend his father's funeral. He meets up with his adopted brother, Marc, who has begun questioning his identity and has embarked on a quest for his roots that would lead them to the Quebec of the 1950s. Past and present converge in a complex web of intrigue where the answer to the mystery lies.
At the Mercy of a Stranger
When Thomas, a prominent doctor, hires a hitman to murder his wife, Elizabeth, the hitman decides to help Elizabeth after realizing she is not the person Thomas painted her to be. Together, they plot a way for Thomas to incriminate himself and get arrested.
The Pinch Hitter
Shy Joel Parker seems bound for nowhere, until Abbie Nettleton enters his life. With her prodding, Joel goes from timid nobody to a baseball star with bravura.
Blaze Away
'Tuck' Martin, a crooked rancher, plots to acquire possession of the neighboring ranch belonging to 'Pop' Melody, whose daughter, Molly, is in love with 'Big Boy.' Bill Lang, the Melody ranchman, is in league with Martin and succeeds in rendering Melody helpless, although he had originally intended to have him killed. An attack on the cottage discloses the double dealing of the foreman, who is finally brought to justice, with nothing but happiness left for 'Big Boy' and Molly.
Till Proven Innocent
A brutal double murder in a hotel room. A suspect confesses at the scene. An open and shut case turns into a psychological thrill ride as tough NY detective, Gloria Hernandez starts a crusade to prove confessor Janie Holtz innocent despite her adamant admissions of guilt.
The Woman Who Sinned
A woman contemplates having an affair, which leads her into a web of deceit, suspense, and murder.