By John Mulderig

NEW YORK (OSV News) – A pilgrimage to Lourdes provides the framework for the tender drama “The Miracle Club” (Sony Classics). By turns humorous and touching, director Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s delicate film will appeal to grown-ups and perhaps mature teens. But it’s neither aimed at nor suitable for kids.

In a hardscrabble neighborhood of 1967 Dublin, best friends Lily (Maggie Smith) and Eileen (Kathy Bates) excitedly prepare to journey to the sacred destination in the company of a third pal, Dolly (Agnes O’Casey). Dolly is hoping that the trip will cure the mysterious muteness of her young son, Daniel (Eric D. Smith), while Eileen is secretly worried about a lump on her breast.

The dynamics of their expedition are suddenly transformed, however, by the unexpected — and initially unwelcome — return of Chrissie (Laura Linney), a former member of the main duo’s social circle who’s been absent in America for 40 years. Chrissie’s reappearance has been prompted by the death of her estranged mother, with whom both Lily and Eileen were close.

The reasons for Chrissie’s exile are not immediately made clear, though a connection to the long-ago drowning death of Lily’s son, Declan, is apparent. Despite the fact that Lily and Eileen continue to shun her, Chrissie decides to join the tour to France which is to be presided over by Father Dermot (Stephen Rea), the wise and sympathetic, if not very forceful, local cleric.

What follows is a sensitive exploration of tragedy and spiritual healing as long-festering emotional wounds are laid bare and the possibilities of reconciliation and renewed relationships examined. Although the confessions of wrongdoing required to restore harmony and peace of mind are interpersonal, rather than sacramental, they are positive examples of moral honesty.

Questions are briefly raised in the dialogue about the authenticity of the apparitions to St. Bernadette Soubirous and the miracles attributed to Our Lady of Lourdes, and such skepticism may grate on believers’ nerves. They may also wince at the repetition of an all-too-common Irish expletive that at least approximates misuse of the Lord’s name.

As for viewers focused on the effectiveness of the tale, as penned by Jimmy Smallhorne, Timothy Prager and Joshua D. Maurer, they may feel it takes too easy a shortcut to forgiveness. Yet, in the age of the three-hour comic book adaptation, there’s something to be said for a modest, character-driven movie that comes full circle in a mere 90 minutes.

The film contains mature themes, including abortion, one direct and several oblique profanities, a rough term and occasional crude and crass language. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

(John Mulderig is media reviewer for OSV News. Follow him on Twitter @JohnMulderig1.)

By John Mulderig
NEW YORK (OSV News) – Viewers may be misled by the title of director and co-writer Abel Ferrara’s historical drama “Padre Pio” (Gravitas). The film is less a profile of the titular saint, played passionately by Shia LaBeouf, than a portrait of San Giovanni Rotondo, the Apulian town of his Capuchin monastery, in the period immediately after World War I.

Moviegoers in search of an uplifting hagiography, accordingly, should look elsewhere. All the more so since Ferrara’s script, penned with Maurizio Braucci, includes graphic material that precludes endorsement for a wide range of age groups as well as themes suitable only for the fully catechized.

As Father Pio grapples with tormenting Satanic visions, the Italian social tensions that would eventually set the scene for the rise of Fascism mount. These are personified in wealthy, corrupt local landowner Renato (Brando Pacitto) on the one side and a group of virtuous socialists, including young would-be revolutionary Luigi (Vincenzo Crea), on the other.

The screenplay suggests points of coherence between Marxism and Christianity. But if that sounds like an uneasy mix, the attempted blending of the events unfolding inside the walls of the Franciscan refuge and those transpiring beyond it is equally unstable. Thus the picture manages to be at once respectful of Christian spirituality and anti-clerical.

The former stance leads to the moving scene in which Padre Pio receives the stigmata. The latter gives us the sight of the local parish priest, Don Anselmo (Piergiuseppe Francione), a dedicated ally of the oppressors, blessing their guns with holy water before a showdown with the good guys.

Such a caricature is, unfortunately, in keeping with the movie’s ham-handed approach to history and ideology. It’s a shame that LaBeouf’s all-in performance – as is well-known, his participation in this project has resulted in his conversion to Catholicism – should come wrapped in such a burdensome husk.

Somewhere inside Ferrara’s flawed political and social retrospective is an intriguing biopic struggling to get out of confinement. A narrower focus would have yielded much stronger results.

The film contains brief but intense gory violence, demonic behavior, rear nudity, references to incest, several rough terms and a couple of crass expressions. The OSV News classification is A-III – adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is R – restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

(John Mulderig is media reviewer for OSV News. Follow him on Twitter @JohnMulderig1.)

Previously run in MS Catholic about St. Padre Pio

In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis

By John Mulderig
NEW YORK (OSV News) – “Do not be afraid to dream.” That’s one of the characteristic statements viewers encounter in the uplifting documentary “In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis” (Magnolia).

Despite its depiction of some of the world’s most pressing problems, filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi’s polished retrospective maintains a tranquil tone as it looks back over the 37 journeys to 53 different countries undertaken by the pontiff during the first nine years of his pontificate. The result is thoughtful fare suitable for grown-ups and teens.

As Francis globe-trots from the halls of Congress to the Philippines and on to the streets of Havana, he speaks his mind about refugees, migrants, poverty, war and the need to imagine a better future. He also grapples with the scandalous abuse crisis in the church and the all-too-understandable sensitivities it has created, especially among victims.

Rosi adopts a hands-off, cinema verite approach to his work, eschewing vocal narration and incorporating stretches of contemplative silence. Always meditative, his profile also is sometimes moving, as when it captures Francis’ one-on-one exchanges with the inmates of a Mexican prison.

A sequence showing the pope walking through a deserted St. Peter’s Square at the height of the COVID pandemic is a striking reminder of the isolation to which that disease reduced so many around the world. In a voiceover, Francis ponders the possibility that the tragedy was the outcome of modern people’s unwillingness to slow themselves down and listen to God’s voice.

Along with the discussion of topics that make it inappropriate for youngsters, Rosi’s picture also includes footage that might upset them. Thus we’re shown real-life scenes of shipwreck, violent conflict and death.
While not pulling his punches, however, Rosi successfully captures the peaceable atmosphere that generally surrounds Pope Francis. Accordingly, his portrait of a pontiff on the move – energetically yet calmly bringing his message of hope to a rich variety of destinations – can be thought of as an appealing 80-minute opportunity for spiritual reflection.

The film contains mature themes, including the sexual abuse of children, potentially disturbing images and situations of peril. The OSV News classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.

The Pope’s Exorcist

By John Mulderig
NEW YORK (OSV News) – It’s important to bear in mind that, however credible its source material may be, the ostensibly fact-based possession tale “The Pope’s Exorcist” (Sony) remains a Hollywood horror movie. Considered as such, the film starts off promisingly enough but eventually becomes overheated and lurid.
Any adaptation of books published by high-profile exorcist Pauline Father Gabriele Amorth, who died in 2016, aged 91, is unlikely to be fare suitable for the whole family, moreover. And so it proves in this case since, as directed by Julius Avery, the picture includes a variety of components that even grown-ups in search of casual entertainment may wish to avoid.

Star Russell Crowe brings verve to his portrayal of Father Amorth. Genial and fond of a joke, the cleric is nonetheless never frivolous. Perhaps the most characteristic image among the opening scenes is that of Father Amorth riding his Vespa scooter through the streets of Rome backed by Faith No More’s refrain, “It’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it.”

From the Eternal City we jump to Spain, where a trio of Americans – widowed mom Julia (Alex Essoe), rebellious teen daughter Amy (Laurel Marsden) and traumatized preteen son Henry (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) – are living temporarily. They’ve taken up residence in a former abbey while Julia supervises its renovation with an eye to selling it.

Of course, the spooky old place turns out to be haunted by a demon (voice of Ralph Ineson) who promptly puts Henry under his dominion. Local priest Father Esquibel (Daniel Zovatto) tries to help but he’s way out of his depth. Time to summon Father Amorth.

In fact, it develops that Father Amorth’s presence is part of a scheme the unholy spirit has concocted for infiltrating the Vatican. There, an entirely fictional pope (Franco Nero) is not only ailing but surrounded by fractious prelates – some allies of Father Amorth, others his opponents.

While the focus remains on young Henry’s plight, the movie feels dramatically compact and sound, though not lacking in genre cliches. And screenwriters Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos successfully make the case for taking the power of evil seriously.

As the duo of clergymen research the abbey’s past, however, extraneous elements ranging from contemporary divisions within the church to the legacy of the Spanish Inquisition are thrown into the mix – and depicted ineptly. As a result, the proceedings eventually degenerate into a muddle while the tone becomes increasingly sensationalist.

Details of religious practice are also portrayed inaccurately. Thus in two of the three confessions we witness on screen, the confessor fails to use the necessary formula of absolution, substituting instead a vague prayer that the penitent may be forgiven. Any well catechized Catholic would demand a do-over.
Speaking of ecclesiastical tensions, in the midst of it all Father Amorth makes an observation that might be taken for heresy in some circles these days. “Prayers,” he tells Father Esquibel, “are more powerful in Latin.”

The film contains mature themes, disturbing images, an attempted suicide, brief aberrant sexual interaction, glimpses of upper and rear female nudity, a few mild oaths, numerous rough terms, occasional crude language and an obscene gesture. The OSV News classification is L – limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association rating is R – restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

“Jesus Revolution” (Lionsgate)

By John Mulderig
NEW YORK (OSV News) – Warmhearted fact-based drama recounting how large numbers of the Woodstock generation were won over to Evangelical Christianity through the unlikely collaboration between a believing hippy (Jonathan Roumie) and a previously starchy California minister (Kelsey Grammer). As their expanding mission leads to mass baptisms, their eventual converts include a once-troubled teen (Joel Courtney) and his emotionally steadier true love (Anna Grace Barlow). Co-directors Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle, working from a script penned by the former (with Jon Gunn), craft an appealing look back at a somewhat surprising chapter in Baby Boomer history. Though the sacramental theology briefly referenced is askew from a Catholic perspective, the morality of the tale is a spot-on rejection of hedonism in favor of a more upright life, so there’s little to prevent older kids as well as grown-ups from taking this stroll down psychedelic-era memory lane. Negatively depicted drug use, a potentially upsetting medical situation. The OSV News classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“65” (Sony)

By John Mulderig
NEW YORK (OSV News) – When the spaceship he pilots is wrecked by meteors, a humanoid alien (Adam Driver) crash lands on prehistoric Earth where he and the only other survivor of the disaster, a young passenger (Ariana Greenblatt) who reminds him of the ailing daughter (Chloe Coleman) he left at home, must trek to a rescue vehicle that detached from the main vessel and now lies atop a nearby mountain. Along the way, they’ll have to dodge an array of predatory creatures, including dinosaurs large and small. The determination of Driver’s character to safeguard his accidental protege is admirable and the bond that develops between the two is enjoyable to observe. But most of the action is devoted to the miseries of the Mesozoic Era, making co-writers and directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ sci-fi adventure a toilsome slog for viewers, albeit one that includes few objectionable ingredients, making it probably acceptable for older teens. Images of a gory wound, potentially upsetting plot developments, at least one mild oath, about a half-dozen crude terms. The OSV News classification is A-III – adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“Scream VI” (Paramount)

By Kurt Jensen
NEW YORK (OSV News) – Dreary horror flick in which the franchise’s trademark masked killer – or someone simply dressed in his guise – menaces the lives of an array of young actors while also targeting series veterans now regarded as “legacy” characters. The latter include two sisters (Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega) as well as a duo of other survivors of the 2022 reboot (Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown). Co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and screenwriters James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick move the mayhem from fictional Woodsboro, California, to New York City on a long Halloween weekend. But the gruesomes excesses of earlier outings remain, resulting in gore galore. Pervasive bloody violence, including gunplay, some sexual references, occasional profanity, frequent rough language. The OSV News rating is O – morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R – restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

“Creed III” (United Artists)

By John Mulderig
NEW YORK (OSV News) – Actor Michael B. Jordan makes his directorial debut with this second sequel to the 2015 reboot of the storied “Rocky” franchise in which he also reprises his role as the champion pugilist of the title. Now retired from the ring, he’s enjoying a prosperous life with his hearing-impaired singer-turned-producer wife (Tessa Thompson) and their deaf daughter (Mila Davis-Kent) while also working as a promoter and co-managing (with Wood Harris) the gym where the current champ (José Benavidez) trains. But his tranquility is shattered when a childhood friend (Jonathan Majors) re-enters his life after serving a long prison term for an incident in which they were both involved but from which he successfully fled. Morally shaded characters add complexity and depth as the plot moves toward a pair of trademark showdowns while Keegan Coogler and Zach Baylin’s script plays creatively on the underdog theme with which the whole saga began. The film’s exploration of guilt, emotional repression and the importance of family may outweigh its earthier elements in the judgment of those making viewing decisions on behalf of older teens. Harsh physical violence, marital sensuality, mature themes, including the physical abuse of children, at least one rough term, about a half-dozen instances each of mild swearing and crude language, a few crass expressions. The OSV News classification is A-III – adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

(Mulderig is on the staff of Catholic News Service and Kurt Jensen is a guest reviewer for OSV News.)

By Kathleen Finley (CNS)
”Subversive Habits: Black Catholic Nuns in the Long African American Freedom Struggle” by Shannen Dee Williams. Duke University Press (Durham, North Carolina, 2022). 424 pp., $29.95.

“Fat Luther, Slim Pickin’s: A Black Catholic Celebration of Faith, Tradition and Diversity” by Marcia Lane-McGee and Shannon Wimp Schmidt. Ave Maria Press (Notre Dame, Indiana, 2022). 192 pp., $17.95.

In Catholic books, an African American perspective is usually missing; these two books attempt to address that important gap in different and complementary ways.

In “Subversive Habits,” historian Williams has given us a remarkable work of scholarship, one that may be distressing for many readers because she clears away any shred of doubt about the U.S. Catholic Church being racist from its very beginnings.

That, unfortunately, includes the key roles that women religious have played in the building of the church.

Williams writes, “Few have considered what it meant that most of the sisters to minister in the United States before 1850, including the nation’s earliest female saints and sainthood candidates, were slaveholders or people who relied on the labor, sale and brutal mistreatment of enslaved people – and the economic benefits of whiteness and racial segregation – to establish and secure the financial futures of their orders and celebrated social service institutions.”

As she traces the hidden history of Black sisters, she admits that the only Black nun she had ever seen personally was Whoopi Goldberg’s fictional character in the movie “Sister Act.” That was true also of her mother, both of them lifelong African American Catholics.

Williams, a Catholic News Service columnist, tells story after story of institutional and personal barriers to pursuing religious vocations for African American women who, in many cases, were of mixed race because of their white fathers’ unions with Black women.

Most white religious communities refused to accept Black applicants, unless they could “pass” for white – and in several cases when women who were in positions of authority were later found to have been Black or of mixed race, they were largely erased from the community’s archives.

Because of a lack of acceptance by white religious communities, several Black religious orders were founded in the South, mainly to serve in Black schools and health care institutions, although many priests saw them as a “profanation of the habit.”

In at least one case, a Black religious community was not allowed to wear a habit in their early years so as not to arouse any further community opposition than necessary. Some women of color who wished to enter religious life fled to Canada or elsewhere to be able to live their vocations peacefully.

Even the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, established by St. Katharine Drexel specifically to minister to Native Americans and Blacks, refused to admit African American or Native sisters into its novitiate for many years.

By 1903, a Belgian priest ministering in Virginia complained to Rome about white religious communities. “In every convent of religious women, a girl having a little Negro blood in her veins is immediately rejected. It does not matter at all that she is well-educated, pious, pure and truly Catholic, so long as she seems Negro or there is the slightest suspicion of color.”

Even in the post-World War II era, Black women still had to battle for any acceptance at all in religious life, although their struggle was helped somewhat by the perspectives of Vatican II and the civil rights movement.

In 1989, when Sister Thea Bowman, one of the best-known African American women religious and then dying of cancer, addressed the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops she observed that most of those ministering in the Black community are not Black and “do not feel an obligation to learn or understand Black history or spirituality, or culture or life – Black tradition or ritual.”

As Williams clearly shows, in the face of nearly impossible odds, Black women religious have made impressive contributions to the church they love. “In the long-standing absence of an empowered African American clergy, Black sisters served as the most genuine and effective leaders of the African American community. …

“As educational and moral leaders, African American sisters instilled racial pride, molded community servants and, most important, taught that racism and sexism had no place in the church – long before the bishops and others collectively did so.”

The book “Fat Luther, Slim Pickin’s” shifts our focus from vowed religious to laywomen and a folksy look at everyday life in Black Catholic homes.

Authors Lane-McGee and Schmidt give the reader an informative glimpse into what celebrating the faith looks like for them, based loosely around the liturgical year, although the section on Ordinary Time seemed to be in an odd order.

The authors also have a podcast, “Plaid Skirts and Basic Black,” and give a helpful multiethnic view of the Catholic experience, although there may be too many in-jokes for those who may not have listened to them.

They describe their focus: “As Black women, we believe there is a place for everyone at the proverbial table, and that if there aren’t enough seats, we bring in another chair.

“This journey through the liturgical year is meant to create some additional space at that table for others to learn. In particular we are here to sit with our fellow Catholics of every background to help us all better understand our culture, our faith and our hope.”

“Fat Luther” explores several helpful topics of Black culture and history, such as appreciation vs. appropriation, soul food, Black hair, the Black church, even code-switching and colorism.

Each season includes a companion, such as St. Martin de Porres, and a gentle sense of humor at times. “And here’s the thing: the Holy Spirit doesn’t care if your Advent wreath is made from four tiny birthday candles you found at the bottom of a drawer. The Spirit will come as long as you make room.”

Pull up a chair and make yourself at home.

(Also of interest: “Race and Rhyme: Rereading the New Testament” by Love Lazarus Sechrest. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2022). 414 pp., $39.99.)

(Finley is the author of several books on practical spirituality, including “The Liturgy of Motherhood: Moments of Grace” and “Savoring God: Praying With All Our Senses,” and formerly taught in the religious studies department at Gonzaga University.)

By Allan F. Wright Catholic News Service

”The Message Behind the Movie – Reboot: Engaging Film Without Disengaging Faith” by Douglas M. Beaumont. Ignatius Press (San Francisco, 2022). 243 pp., $17.95.

Douglas M. Beaumont is a former evangelical who joined the Catholic Church several years ago. A former professor in an evangelical Christian seminary, he has published a Catholic update and “reboot” of his 2009 book, “The Message Behind the Movie.”

In an age when Christians can access online websites that reveal the number of times profanity is used in a film, how many sexual scenes and sexual references there are and how many drug references, Beaumont provides a biblical framework in which a religious believer can evaluate a film, absorb the positive elements and use various aspects of the film in communicating the Gospel.

His ability to provide a balanced, well-thought-out view on the Scriptures and a positive point of view on a Christianity’s ability to be “in the world” but not “of the world” is quite refreshing and encouraging.
The author loves movies and sees the value of the art form, the significance movies have in forming the values of our culture and the practical opportunities they bring to find common ground with others in order to bring the truth of the Gospel and conversations on faith.

The author makes it clear that increasing our pleasure in movie watching is not the primary goal, but rather to learn how to evaluate a movie in light of Christian beliefs. Analogous to great music or art that communicated an aspect of God’s sovereignty or Christ’s compassion for past generations, movies can do likewise.

This involves discerning the message of the movie revealed by its story, the structure and the assumed worldview of that story. Beaumont would argue that “only then can Christians evaluate whether the movie presents a strong Christian, non-Christian or anti-Christian worldview, which they can then respond to and use as a starting point for apologetics and evangelism.”

By discussing the cinematic techniques and the genre considerations filmmakers use to communicate their ideas, this book helps Catholics and other Christians to become informed viewers. The book shows how to evaluate the stories that movies tell and how to discern what they say about reality, God and what it means to be human.

At the same time, he illustrates how movie watchers can engage in thoughtful, lively discussions not only about film but also about the big questions in life.
The book is organized in three basic “acts.” Act One focuses on watching and understanding movies. Act Two discusses the evaluation process. Act Three explores what kinds of movies to watch and what kinds of movies to avoid. Ultimately, the author seeks to “show how we can all better interact with our culture by understanding the movies that shape and reveal it.”

The author begins by setting forth the historical context by which we knowingly or unknowingly evaluate entertainment. The two positions find their origins in Plato and Aristotle. Plato held that art is basically useless and may even be harmful.

Beaumont sides with Aristotle and writes approvingly: “An Aristotelian approach to movies needn’t condone sinfulness; instead, it can recognize how central storytelling is to human experience and seek to accurately critique the messages that stories in films are communicating.”

In Act Two, on evaluating and discussing movies, Beaumont encourages Christians to discern good and bad in movies. He prompts Christians to use movies as a starting point in sharing the Gospel message and to discern the philosophical angle that may “open doors to conversations which may clarify the faith.” In Jesus’ parables, the listeners are obliged to do the same.

In Act Three, on applauding and avoiding movies, the author not only has his eye on culture; he also rejects the sympathetic attitude that some Christians have toward postmodernity and positions himself in a school of thought that is focused on classical apologetics.

The book has excellent insights into the production of a movie and ends with a commentary on the film, “The Truman Show.” Parents should certainly have discretion over what is allowed in their households and the rating designation of a movie can be informative for age-appropriate viewing.

The reader will gain appreciation for the messages that are found within movies, which can be a starting point for dialogue with people of divergent faith backgrounds or no faith at all.