Best movies like The Staircase

Drama based on the life of Joyce Duco, with Joanna Pettet as a young nun torn between the reality of her secular job as a daytime juvenile probation officer and the vows she has taken with the church.

A group of pioneering nuns bravely stand up to the Catholic Church patriarchy, fighting for their livelihoods, convictions and equality against an all-powerful Cardinal. From marching in Selma in 1965 to the Women’s March in 2018, these women have reshaped our society with their bold acts of defiance.

Dick Van Dyke stars as a priest accused of murdering a nun. Directed by Stanley Kramer, this 1979 drama also features Kathleen Quinlan, Maureen Stapleton, Ray Bolger, Beau Bridges and Tammy Grimes.

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.

Dr. John Carpenter takes the job of running a health center in a low-income district. He enlists three women to help out who — unbeknownst to him — are actually nuns in street clothes. The church wants to improve the neighborhood but fears that nuns in full habit would not be well received. Unaware of her unavailability, John falls for Sister Michelle, serenading her with his guitar — which, luckily for him, effectively wears away at her religious resolve.

When a young couple hires a carpenter to help renovate a home they’ve purchased to flip, they get more than they bargained for when the carpenter interferes in their lives and sabotages their efforts to remodel.

After a mysterious death at the Abbey, Sister Talia finds herself caught in the center of the internal investigation. With strict orders from the newly elected Mother Superior, she must uncover the truth behind the death and ensure the Abbey remains undisturbed. Things take a sharp turn when another sister is found murdered and Sister Talia is forced to find the killer. As she discovers larger secrets plaguing the Abbey, Sister Talia must reconcile her past life in order to follow through with the task at hand. For Sister Talia, all that she knows about the Abbey and her Sisters is about to come into question, as she discovers sometimes the good kill.

In this belated sequel to 'Lilies of the Field' (1963), jack-of-all-trades Homer Smith revisits the chapel in the Arizona desert that he helped build for five German nuns under the supervision of Mother Maria, and he reluctantly helps them out of a pinch once more.

A research team finds a mysterious cylinder in a deserted church. If opened, it could mean the end of the world.

Strange things begin to occurs as a tiny California coastal town prepares to commemorate its centenary. Inanimate objects spring eerily to life; Rev. Malone stumbles upon a dark secret about the town's founding; radio announcer Stevie witnesses a mystical fire; and hitchhiker Elizabeth discovers the mutilated corpse of a fisherman. Then a mysterious iridescent fog descends upon the village, and more people start to die.

Carrying on the Prom Night tradition, this film begins back at Hamilton High School on Prom Night in 1957. As a young couple are enjoying a romantic moment together in the back seat of a car, they are interrupted by Father Jonas, a priest who slashes and immolates the lovers. Thirty years later, Jonas gets loose from the chapel basement where the church fathers had been secretly keeping him locked up and drugged. As luck would have it, it's prom night again, and group of four students have unfortunately chosen Jonas's hideout as their secluded getaway spot.

Documentary filmmaker Amy Berg investigates the life of 30-year pedophile Father Oliver O'Grady and exposes the corruption inside the Catholic Church that allowed him to abuse countless children. Victims' stories and a disturbing interview with O'Grady offer a view into the troubled mind of the spiritual leader who moved from parish to parish gaining trust ... all the while betraying so many.

Garfagnana, Italy, 1347. The handsome servant Masseto, fleeing from his vindictive master, takes shelter in a nunnery where three young nuns, Sister Alessandra, Sister Ginevra and Sister Fernanda, try unsuccessfully to find out what their purpose in life is, a conundrum that each of them faces in different ways.

In the years before the Second World War, a tomboyish postulant at an Austrian abbey is hired as a governess in the home of a widowed naval captain with seven children, and brings a new love of life and music into the home.

A Roman Catholic nun and a hard-bitten US Marine are stranded together on a Japanese-occupied island in the South Pacific during World War II. Under constant threat of discovery by a ruthless enemy, they hide in a cave and forage for food together. Their forced companionship and the struggle for survival forge a powerful emotional bond between them.

A mysterious — and suspicious — run of ill fortune plagues a teenage girl and her mother and sister on their hillside farm in this folk story set in the dark hills of Wales during the industrial revolution.

An unemployed construction worker heading out west stops at a remote farm in the desert to get water when his car overheats. The farm is being worked by a group of East European Catholic nuns, headed by the strict mother superior, who believes the man has been sent by God to build a much needed church in the desert.

A priest arrives at a mission-post in China accompanied by a young native girl who has joined him along the way. His job is to relieve the existing priest, who is now too old and weak to continue with the upkeep of the church. However, Communist soldiers arrive at the mission and seize it as a command post. Their leader rapes the native girl and impregnates her, only later to realize that Communism is no good for him. In the end, the foursome flee to the border, but are pursued by Communist forces along the way.

Mysterious events surround the travels of two brothers as they make their way across a remote American landscape. On the surface all seems normal, but what appears to be a simple vacation soon gives way to a dark and complex web of secrets. This is the feature film version of the 2011 short film going by the same name.

Nola grew up living on a van with her father, Clint; two nomads against the world. When tragedy strikes, Nola must confront the reality of life on the road alone, learning to own her grief, her past and her new destination.

When Joshua moves to the outskirts of Auburn, he awakens the curiosity of the sleepy town. They don’t know who he is or where he came from, but no one can shake the feeling they’ve known him for years. Despite his benevolence and selfless work in the community, some remain suspicious. Just what exactly is Joshua up to?

Kathleen Turner stars as suburban mother and devout Catholic Eileen Cleary, who has always kept up appearances. When she runs for the Catholic Woman of the Year title at her local parish, her final test is introducing her family to the board for the seal of approval. Now she must finally face the nonconformist family she has been glossing over for years...

A killer of Detroit clergy confesses to a priest, who turns sleuth because he cannot tell the police.

In March 1963, a black mass was held at a ruined church in Clophill, Bedfordshire by a coven of dark witches. Tombs were looted, animals sacrificed and human bones arranged during a macabre ceremony. Further defilements continued at Clophill in the following years, with cattle in nearby fields found mutilated, evidence of necromancy discovered and perpetual sightings of paranormal activity witnessed at the isolated ruin. 50 years on from the original incident, the Clophill legend remains etched on the psyches of the local populace. In 2010, a documentary team was assembled to investigate the legend of the Clophill witches and to try and uncover the truth behind the paranormal events. What followed during that long weekend at Clophill was a terrifying journey into the unknown.

Catherine and her family recently moved into a converted church. Upon moving in, they have been harassed by an unknown religious stalker, claiming them to be sinners. Pamela, Catherine's grandmother soon begins to reveal she has secrets hidden to the local church, and not all is as it seems. Each night the Nun returns, and this time, she is looking to claim more than one soul.

Uninspired and newly single painter Sara is down on her luck and wants nothing more than to get away from her problems. When she decides to take a trip to visit her mom, she becomes involved in the efforts to save a local church which is in danger of closing down.

A spoiled schoolgirl, her overworked executive mother, and a disillusioned young minister each receives an uplifting message about friendship, commitment, and the truest meaning of Christmas from a friendly, but mysterious drifter.

A father-in-law's visit makes life even more complicated for a struggling writer and his pregnant wife. Director Richard Quine's 1956 film stars Judy Holliday, Richard Conte and Salvatore Baccaloni.

As Sister Mary delivers a lecture on sin and its consequences, she's interrupted by several of her former students, who have little positive to say about how a Catholic education has impacted their lives.

A priest is murdered and the main suspect is a nun.

An investigation into nunsploitation, and why men find images of nuns involved in sexual situations erotic. The programme also controversially covers the Muslim hibab and burka.

The exquisite Rosslyn Chapel is a masterpiece in stone. It used to be one of Scotland's best-kept secrets, but it became world-famous when it was featured in Dan Brown's the Da Vinci Code.

Katie Mayfield is now the mistress of Mayfield Manor. In her new world she finds herself torn between two worlds and grieves for her plain Amish life. Does Katie choose her new life or the simple heritage she left behind?

Based on true events. Aesha goes to an isolated b&b in Kent after her mom books her in so she can get some head space for her studies. In the night Aesha is visited by a nun at the door who will progressively begin to show her true colours as the night unfolds - As the nun continues to bother Aesha at the door, Aesha begins to question her surroundings in this isolated suspense horror.

A family must put faith in a mysterious priest when an demonic force, connected to a decades-old murders in their home, possesses their daughter.