Ten Movies For The Easter Season

TV & Film

Mar 24

The Easter season is almost upon us, and that means looking forward to spring- new life, new possibilities, and visits from a mysterious rabbit with gifts of chocolate.

I still don’t get that one.

Having gone to Catholic school, I have a pretty good idea of how the media influences our perception of major holidays. The following ten movies give us a look into important events and important things to remember when the Easter season of renewal comes around.

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10: The Ten Commandments (1956)

Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 epic is usually played during the Easter season, because most of the time Easter lines up with Passover. The Ten Commandments tells the story of Moses and of the exodus from Egypt- which Passover symbolizes- along with the story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God. This movie and its excellent acting give life to the important story and reminds both religious and atheist alike of the importance of history and the way these important stories shape our existence.

9: The Seventh Sign

This movie, starring Demi Moore and Jurgen Prochnow, was my teacher’s choice at the end of our World Religions unit on Christianity.

It tells the story of the end times, putting the biblical narrative into a modern context that, while it entertains us, also reminds us of the importance of suffering, and of the resurrection, and that even a single person can make a pivotal difference to the future.

8: Amazing Grace

This movie tells the story of British politician William Wilberforce and his quest to end the slave trade in Britain. Covering the story of his crusade from beginning to end, it is a compelling tale of a vital point in British and ultimately human history, and holds lesson for the Easter season about doing what’s right.

7: Chocolat

This 2007 movie deals with both the religious and secular, more popular aspects of the Easter season; it shows how the two interact and sometimes clash with each other.

It also gives the lesson of why one should not discriminate between different sections of the population, and it shows how ultimately, everyone is able to get along.

6: The Da Vinci Code

Everyone knows this one. Based on the novel by Dan Brown, it obviously tells a religiously-oriented fictional story, but it’s also a mainstream pop culture look at all the things that are sort of fascinating about religion and the weirdness surrounding it. It’s exciting as hell, and that makes it more relatable and more watchable for people.

5: Fantasia 2000

This movie, and specifically the Noah’s Ark segment, is a good way to start kids off on the topic of religion with its blending of Disney’s magic and a biblical tale. It helps younger generations understand the story and gives them a foundation on which to build their own perceptions of religion and how the stories we are told in church are relevant to real life.

Also relatable is the sub-plot of Donald and Daisy getting separated; it shows how, even after disaster, finding each other can make everything all right.

Note- It does not, however, shed any light on my Donald Duck never wears pants.

4: The Passion of the Christ

This Mel Gibson religious flick has had its fair share of controversy over the years. Obviously, we have no idea, no way of knowing what actually happened, so you need to take this movie with a grain of salt, but we can also say that The Passion of the Christ is a fairly realistic- by modern standards- look at what would have went during Christ’s Passion. It does cast a highly critical light on some groups, but it is nevertheless a good way of transmitting the Easter story to the population without any bells and whistles.

3: Son of God

Son of God was pieced together from different episode fragments of the series The Bible on Netflix. In either format, the story is extremely compelling, and again, relatable.

Piecing together the different fragments to tell the story of Jesus in a cohesive manner is a good way of telling the tale, and it shows how, at least theoretically, how one might have interacted between the human and the divine.

2: The Prince of Egypt

This movie is, again, a good way of relating biblical stories to children- in this case, the story of Exodus and Passover. It provides an early introduction that can help young people form their opinions as life goes on. Its style as a musical film also makes it more compelling to watch and relate to.

1: Lilies of the Field

This movie, which made actor Sidney Poitier the first African American male to win an Oscar, is at its heart a simple, wholesome religious story.

Although not per se related to the Easter holiday directly, it is nevertheless a good way of promoting the lessons that we learn from the holiday- tolerance, respect, hard work, belief, and how even people from different backgrounds can use those principles to interact with each other in a positive way.

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