God in the Movies: A Guide for Exploring Four Decades of Film

This informative guide helps readers combine their love of movies with their desire to grow closer to God. Foremost experts on faith and film, all connected with the Reel Spirituality Institute at Fuller Seminary, explore forty leading movies from the last four decades to encourage movie lovers and small groups to reflect critically and theologically on their film choices. God in the Movies introduces and analyzes the spiritual content of top films from the 1980s through the 2010s, opening viewers up to a conversation about life, faith, and God.

Following a format similar to Barsotti and Johnston’s successful Finding God in the Movies, this completely new book covers different films spanning four decades. This engaging resource contains production notes and film synopses, relevant Scripture texts, theological reflection, discussion questions, film stills, recommended film clips, and more, serving as a treasure chest for hours of film viewing, discussion, and ministry. Clips from the movies referenced in each chapter are available online.

From the Back Cover

Foremost experts on faith and film explore forty leading movies from the last four decades to encourage movie lovers and small groups to reflect critically and theologically on some of the best movies of recent years. Films covered include Chariots of Fire, Do the Right Thing, Field of Dreams, American Beauty, Groundhog Day, The Shawshank Redemption, Children of Men, A Serious Man, Up, WALL•E, The Adjustment Bureau, The Tree of Life, 12 Years a Slave, and Zero Dark Thirty.

"An essential text for courageous moviegoers. Barsotti, Johnston, and their community of cinephiles show us that the Spirit moves in mysterious ways throughout the world of cinema, and with prophetic understanding they coax us to become wise interpreters of the world’s big-screen dreams."
--Jeffrey Overstreet, Seattle Pacific University, author of Through a Screen Darkly and Auralia’s Colors and senior film critic at Christianity Today and lookingcloser.org

"Spirituality in movies? You bet! God in the Movies gives us eyes to see the subtle but powerful nuggets of spiritual wisdom tucked into mainstream Hollywood films. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll find!"
--David C. McFadzean, writer, producer, partner, Wind Dancer Films (Bernie and TV’s Home Improvement)

"Catherine Barsotti and Rob Johnston, experts in expressing the profound connections between faith and culture, have drawn together brilliant authors, prophetic films, and fabulous insight into the importance of movies--their messages, their meaning, and their influence on our hearts, minds, and spirits."
--Karen Covell, film producer and founding director of the Hollywood Prayer Network

"God in the Movies does a wonderful job of showing how film can stimulate religious discussion and how those discussions can inform our viewing of films."
--George Nolfi, screenwriter, producer, and director (Ocean’s Twelve, The Bourne Ultimatum, and The Adjustment Bureau)

"Looking at forty films from four decades, God in the Movies guides us to think about and talk about films theologically. I highly recommend it as a resource for scholars, filmmakers, movie lovers, pastors, or anyone wanting to engage others in a conversation about God through the movies."
--Camille Tucker, screenwriter, screenwriting professor, Biola University