Best movies like Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The eventful life of a humble Polish priest who once decried the pomp of the Catholic Church "a circus" and labeled the Pope a "prisoner of the Vatican" before ascending to the papal throne is explored as actor Thomas Kretschmann takes on the role of Pope John Paul II to the man who would usher Catholicism into the 21st century. Born in Poland and forced to carry on following the untimely death of his family, Karol Wojtyla endured both personal hardships and the rape of his homeland by the Third Reich to spread the word of God through the Catholic Church. Later, as Pope John Paul II, Wojtyla was beloved by millions of Catholics worldwide. From the sexual-abuse scandal that shook the American Catholic Church in the later-20th century to the murder of Salvatorian Archbishop Oscar Romero and the near-fatal assassination attempt made on his own life, Pope John Paul II endured to bridge the gap between various faiths until his death resulting from Parkinson's disease in April of 2005.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 250
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Lithuania, USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating
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Anthony, Warrior of God (2006)
Plot Summary:
The life of Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) from his arrival on Sicily's shores via shipwreck in 1221 to his death. He's a Portuguese monk who, once in Italy, seeks out St. Francis. Anthony's gift as a great preacher is discovered by happenstance. He spends much of his life in and near Padua, a city run by usurers. Anthony offers protection and friendship to Folco, at one time a petty criminal and acolyte to the usurers, later falsely accused of murder. Anthony's teaching and his spiritual strength lead to changes in the character of Padua and an end to usury. He became its patron Saint soon after his death, and 32 years later, his casket is opened and his tongue remains intact.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 200
Genere: Biography
Country: Italy
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, stylized, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, realistic
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IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 192 min
Plot tags: realistic, disturbing, serious, suspenseful, tense, bizarre, campy, cult film
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The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968)
Plot Summary:
Metropolitan Archbishop Lakota of L'viv, freed after twenty years in the Soviet Gulag, travels to Rome where circumstances conspire to see him elevated to the Papacy. Inspired by the life story of Ukrainian Catholic Cardinal Josyf Slipyj,.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 162 min
Plot tags: tense, epic, serious, realistic, christian film, retro, spiritual
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Karol: A Man Who Became Pope (2005)
Plot Summary:
The life of the pope John-Paul II, from his youth as a writer, actor, and athlete in war-torn occupied Poland to his election as Pope at the age of 58.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Poland, Italy
Duration: 186 min
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Father Damien (1999)
Plot Summary:
The true story of the 19th century Belgian priest, Father Damien, who volunteered to go to the island of Molokai, to console and care for the lepers.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Belgium, Netherlands, Australia
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Mother Teresa (2003)
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The inspirational portrayal of Mother Teresa, a simple nun who became one of the most significant personalities of the 20th Century. Armed with a faith that could move mountains, Mother Teresa followed her calling to help the poor, the lepers, the dying and the abandoned children in the slums of Calcutta, challenging many authorities - including the church - along the way.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 756
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Spain, UK, Italy
Duration: 180 min
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Between February and July 1858, in the Massabielle cave, the Virgin appeared eighteen times to Bernadette Soubirous, a miserable little girl from Lourdes. A true revolution in the heart of the Second Empire that shakes the established order by his universal message of love and prayer.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 218
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, emotional, biblical, serious, realistic
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Faustina (1994)
Plot Summary:
The Life of saint Maria Faustyna Kowalska, a Polish Nun.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 243
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 73 min
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IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 209
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Italy
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: biblical, captivating, serious, emotional, realistic
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Plot Summary:
The young Jeremiah grows up in a priest's family in the village of Anathoth, near Jerusalem. God appears to Jeremiah in different human guises on several occasions, and makes it clear to him that he has been selected to announce God's message to the people of Jerusalem.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Italy, Germany, USA
Duration: 90 min
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The Gospel of John (2003)
Plot Summary:
A word for word depiction of the life of Jesus Christ from the Good News Translation Bible as recorded in the Gospel of John.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Canada, UK
Duration: 180 min
Plot tags: biblical, atmospheric, serious, christian film, mysterious, epic
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Galileo (1975)
Plot Summary:
Challenged by a new student, tutor and theorist Galileo co-opts emerging telescope technology and discovers irrefutable proof of the heretical notion that the earth is not the center of the universe. But in a rigid society ruled by an uneasy alliance of aristocracy and clergy already undermined by the Plague and the Reformation, science is a threat and enlightenment is a luxury. Faced with either death at the hands of the Inquisition or recantation to a hypocritical but all-powerful Papacy, Galileo must choose between his own life and the restless scientific curiosity that he has spurned family, friends, and wealth to pursue.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 654
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, USA
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Luther (1974)
Plot Summary:
A man's view cause a rift between peasants and the church.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 474
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, Canada, USA
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From a Far Country (1981)
Plot Summary:
The film is a biography of Pope John Paul II. It starts in 1926 when the boy Karol Wojtila was celebrating Christmas with his father in Poland. Some years later Nazi Germany attacks Poland and invades the country while Wojtila seeks refuge at the house of Cardinal Wyszynski. Also appear all the other important stations of the life of the Pope.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 199
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Italy, UK, Poland
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: uplifting, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, gloomy
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Francesco (1989)
Plot Summary:
The life of St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) as related by followers who gather after his death to tell stories so that Leone can record them: a privileged and virile youth, a prisoner of war, an heir who turns away from his father and gives all to the poor, a beggar for others, and an inspiration to friends who accept the Gospels' life of poverty. He seeks the Pope's blessing, and he endures persecution at the hands of the family of Chiara Offreduccio (1194-1253), who becomes St. Clare. Many join the order he has established and then rebel at his expectations. In near despair - and ill - he writes a Rule to take to the Pope; then, the Lord sends him a message. He dies smiling.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
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Plot Summary:
Peter and Paul assume leadership of the Church as they struggle against violent opposition to the teachings of Christ and their own personal conflicts.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 654
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IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 539
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IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 160
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
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Pope John Paul II (2005)
Plot Summary:
Following the death of his mother, Karol Wojtyla is brought up by his father in the Polish city of Krakow during the first half of the 20th century. When his homeland is invaded by the Nazis in 1939, he secretly opposes the systematic persecution of their Polish culture. With the death of his father, Karol decides to follow a priestly vocation. When Poland falls into the grip of Soviet totalitarianism, the newly ordained Karol is constantly surrounded by young people whom he teaches to safeguard and defend human dignity. He could be considered a serious threat to the regime, but the Communist authorities merely see him as an innocuous intellectual and he becomes the youngest bishop in the history of Poland. When he is appointed Cardinal, Karol is more intransigent in the spiritual guidance of his homeland, becoming a real and proper thorn in the side of the Communist government. On the death of Pope John Paul I in 1978, Karol leaves his beloved Poland to become Pope John Paul II.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Italy, Poland, USA
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Plot tags: exciting, serious, realistic, spiritual
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Jesus of Nazareth’s life and ministry were subject to seismic social and political events that led to his execution and changed the world forever.
IMDB Rating: 4.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
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Plot Summary:
Hell and Mr. Fudge is an 2012 American drama film directed by Jeff Wood and written by Brian Phillip Stoddard. Based on a true story, the film stars Mackenzie Astin as Edward Fudge, an Alabama preacher who has been hired to determine the existence of hell.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 215
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IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 816
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IMDB Votes: 335
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Story of Sir Thomas More, who refused to accept the spiritual leadership of Henry VIII, and faces death as he struggles to remain loyal to his integrity.
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IMDB Votes: 726
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Who is Jesus, and why does he impact all he meets? He is respected and reviled, emulated and accused, beloved, betrayed, and finally crucified. Yet that terrible fate would not be the end of the story.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 9000
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IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
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IMDB Votes: 1000
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IMDB Votes: 176
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IMDB Votes: 2000
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