The Year Faith-Based Films Grew Up: The Top 10 Movies Of 2025
A scene from "Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.” (Photo courtesy of Netflix)
(ANALYSIS) There’s no doubt that faith-based films blew up in 2025. Whether that’s in the faith-based film industry putting out record-breaking theatrical releases of “The Chosen” and other Jesus movies or Hollywood exploring religion with a newfound earnestness in the horror genre or blockbusters, faith was everywhere this year.
Not only that, but the quality of these releases – by Christians and by Hollywood – went up as well. Faith-based industry films increased their artistic excellence, and Hollywood films became more thoughtful about matters of faith.
For the first time on my list, much of the top ten is a battle between the best, not merely the best of the worst. Also, the variety is increasing, from animation to historical drama, to comedy, to horror, to thriller.
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So to close out the year, I’m proud to highlight the best of the best of films that I call faith-based, which “affirms religious faith as one of its primary features,” whether that’s in Hollywood, the faith-based industry or somewhere else.
As always, while TV has seen some of the best examples of faith-based filmmaking (e.g., “The Chosen”, “The Chosen Adventures” and “House of David”), this list is only feature films. Also, we’re only doing movies that came out in 2025. So no re-releases like “What If …” or “The Blind”.
I started this list because film is the most influential mainstream storytelling art form in the world, and faith is one of the most important human experiences in the world. Artists in this space are starting to make movies worthy of the topic.
10. ‘David’
A coming-of-age story about the classic biblical hero, “David,” is a groundbreaking leap forward in computer-generated faith-based animation, which sometimes reaches the greatness of films like “Prince of Egypt” and other times more resembles “Minions.”
From my review: “The animation can be beautiful. It’s often very funny, and even dark at times, particularly in its portrayal of King Saul’s desperate attempts to hold on to power. (Just like the “House of David” show.) Characters like Goliath, King Saul, and Jonathan are surprisingly well defined.”
“The Testament Of Ann Lee” (Handout photo)
9. ‘The Testament of Ann Lee’
Beautifully and brilliantly shot, choreographed, edited, and acted in a biopic of the titular historical religious figure. If the film had not kept the audience so far at a distance from the characters with constant voiceover or dragged on with so many repetitive scenes, this would have been higher on the list.
From my review: “The shots often look as beautiful as paintings. Amanda Seyfried and the whole cast give incredible performances. The choreography and editing that turns the Shakers’ worship services halfway into a musical give a phenomenal sense of the emotional power of that religious experience.”
8. ‘Triumph of the Heart’
Following the last days of St. Maximilian Kolbe, the film is a visceral experience of Christian martyrdom and self-sacrifice that can at times be a bit repetitive, but at its best is horrifically holy in ways we haven’t seen since Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”.
From my review: “One of the film’s greatest strengths is its willingness to put us through the unrelenting suffering of its heroes under the Nazi’s boots. We watch Kolbe and the others get beaten, grow hungry, get beaten again, fall into despair, hallucinate, eat rats and turn on each other and still pull through to die with dignity. While so many faith-based films acknowledge life’s sufferings but insist on skipping over them, this film spends the entire film in the middle of the shadow of death.”
7. ‘Sinners’
A lovingly-made mash-up of race-conscious horror and remix of vampire tropes that sometimes drags and is often self-indulgent. But also at times hits brilliance and checks the right boxes with its thoughtful, socially conscious subversion of racial and religious tropes. Its most interesting innovation is to subvert Christianity as the cure for vampirism in favor of black folk spirituality (where it follows the “female-spirituality = good, masculine religion = bad” trend).
From my review: “Coogler knows how to check the boxes of good storytelling while creating energy in his execution, from the characters, to the dialogue, to the camera and the editing. The film’s most powerful and creative moments are where he combines the music and dancing to a time-hopping spiritual experience that brings the scenes where it’s utilized to layered crescendo.”
6. ‘Good Fortune’
An earnestly funny film about doing the right thing when life seems unfair, that parodies “It’s A Wonderful Life” style stories, with a naive angel accidentally messing up the life of a depressed and broke man. Some of its messages fall into too many debunked “eat the rich” tropes. But enough of its lessons are positive, and the performances and writing make it an enjoyable time.
5. ‘Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery’
The latest in the “Knives Out” franchise tackles faith through a classic whodunnit formula with humor, complexity, and a positive lens rarely seen in Hollywood films. If the film hadn’t been so partisan and, more importantly, hadn’t used a deus ex machina to copy out its own themes of how to balance justice and mercy, the results could have been generational.
From my review: “There’s plenty to enjoy as a believer. Father Duplencity speaks of his faith in vivid theological terms, how Jesus redeemed him as a sinner, and therefore, he wants to do the same for others. His discussions with Benoit Blanc on the validity of religious belief are thoughtful and reflect many of the conversations my friends and I have had.”
4. ‘Presence’
A brilliantly shot, plotted, and acted film that redefines how spirituality can be portrayed cinematically. Also, easily the best portrayal of the trend toward non-religious feminine spirituality that is on the rise in modern-day, and particularly Hollywood.
From my review: “Making the camera the perspective of a ghostly observer gives the audience the best of both worlds: the omniscience of a camera shot with the personal investment of a character. Because it’s a ghost, following the characters like a camera doesn’t feel arbitrary; it feels like an expression of care that encourages us to care.”
“Light Of The World” (Handout photo)
3. ‘Light of the World’
In a year where faith-based animation broke out in a major way, “Light of the World” is easily the best. The animation is beautiful, the characters, themes, and Biblical story are well executed, and everything comes together in a gorgeous symphony of art and story to remind you why the Christian story is so powerful.
From my review: “The animation is deeply creative and emotional. The way a strand of hair will fall over someone’s face. How big the waves that Peter encounters on his way to Jesus feel. The storybook fairytale quality of the history of the world and God’s salvation plan. All of these bring an alternatively fleshy and transcendent quality to the film. And what other qualities would you want from a movie about the God man?”
2. ‘The Last Rodeo’
This film is easily one of the best examples of a film nailing the faith-based inspirational drama formula I’ve seen. The acting, writing, cinematography, and editing are stellar, the messages are good, and everyone acts the way real people act in situations like they’re in.
From my review: “The film’s depiction of faith is also among the best I’ve seen in this genre. It’s neither so subtle that it feels insignificant — like in “The Sound of Freedom” or “Rule Breakers” — nor does it feel forced, as in Homestead. Charlie and his wife are devoted believers, and Charlie confronts Joe for cutting him out of his life after Joe became angry with God over his wife’s death.”
“Guns & Moses:” (Photo courtesy of Intrinsic Value Films)
1. ‘Guns & Moses’
If “The Last Rodeo” is the best version of the faith-based formula we’ve seen before, “Guns & Moses” is the best version of something we rarely see: a faith-based action thriller. It follows a Rabbi who puts himself into danger to prove the innocence of a young neo nazi accused of killing his friend in an anti-semetic hate crime.
This gives us one of the most thoughtful explorations of balancing active mercy and reconciliation with fighting evil (paging “Wake Up Dead Man”), and easily the best faith-based film of the year.
From my review: “What makes the film effective in being refreshingly different is how it combines many different film genre tropes into one film to tell its story. We are familiar with seeing charming and affectionate, self-effacing portraits of Jewish culture. We are familiar with the tropes of the mystery film and an amateur gumshoe proving the innocence of the wrongly convicted. We are familiar with the trope of the unlikely hero saving the day. We are familiar with stories of people struggling with their faith. We are also familiar with slow burn thrillers that eventually boil over into massive shootouts. But we are not familiar with seeing them all together.”
Joseph Holmes is an award-nominated filmmaker and culture critic living in New York. He is co-host of the podcast “The Overthinkers” and its companion website theoverthinkersjournal.world, where he discusses art, culture and faith with his fellow overthinkers. His other work and contact info can be found at josephholmesstudios.com.