FInding Faith in Film

I have been really lucky have youth group students who love watching movies as much as I do! I grew up watching John Hughes movies like The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  (I think they still hold up :)

Below are some of my favorites from more recent years. All of these movies have interesting themes that you can explore in conversation with youth. Most of these are better suited for older high school or college-age youth due to their ratings and subject matter.  They deal with very difficult themes - but can be great springboards for discussion and conversation. Only one of these movies has a "Christian" theme, but they all can inspire conversations about faith and living it out in the world.

What are some of your favorites?

Perks of Being a Wallflower (PG-13, 2012)
This one was filmed in Pittsburgh! The iconic entry into the city through the Fort Pitt tunnels plays a big part of the story. The film is based on the wonderful book by written by Stephen Chbosky that was first published in 1999.  The story is about high school freshman Charlie who tells his story through a series of letters written to a stranger who is never named. Charlie is a very smart introvert who navigates his freshman year at a suburban Pittsburgh high school.  So many themes are explored in this story including friendship, sexuality, relationships, suicide and first love. It's a little heavy but has a great story and a killer soundtrack.  So many good quotes come from this film to mull over and talk about.

“So, I guess we are who we are for alot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.”

Charlie Bartlett  (R, 2007)

Another Charlie! This movie focuses on a very wealthy student who begins helping his peers at school by offering therapeutic advice and prescription drugs to classmates at his new high school.  It begins as self-defense and ends becoming his key to popularity.  His mother is medicated for depression and his father is in prison for tax evasion.  After being expelled from more than one private school he is goes to public high school and tries to find a way to fit in.








It's Kind of a Funny Story (PG-13, 2010)



 Based on the book by Ned Vizzini, this movie is about a young man who checks himself into a hospital and stays for a week in the hospital's psychiatric floor.  The main character Craig is feeling enormous pressure at school and home. Throughout his stay he forms relationships with other patients. This movie is a great way to begin discussions about acceptance, forgiveness, and understanding and empathy.







Rocket Science ( R, 2007)

This one you may not have heard of and I don't remember it being theaters. I saw when a movie-loving older congregation member recommended it to me on dvd.  It's about Hal Hefner, a fifteen-year-old stutterer who decided to join his school's debate team.  This is definitely a movie about finding your voice! It's quirky, funny and Hal is both really nerdy and really lovable.

"It's one of those two, love or revenge, I'm not really sure which one. But it's one of those two that made me throw a cello through somebody's window, so you figure it out. "

Saved  (PG-13, 2004)

This is the oldest movie on my list - and the only one with an outright "Christian" theme.  It's a satirical dark comedy around a group of kids at a "good Christian high school."  This is movie is a good way to begin a discussion about stereotypes around religion and being "born again." It has an uplifting and realistic message about faith.


Mary: "So everything that doesn't fit into some stupid idea of what you think God wants you just try to hide or fix or get rid of? It's just all too much to live up to. No one fits in one hundred percent of the time. Not even you. "
Pastor Skip: "I know that, Mary."
Dean: "I know in my heart that Jesus still loves me. "
Mary: "Why would God make us all so different if he wanted us to be the same? "