Catholic cinema is rich with stories that explore faith, morality, and the human condition. Over time, many websites, critics, and Catholic organizations have published recommendations of films worth watching. Rather than creating an entirely original ranking, I have gathered and combined these recommendations into a single collection of more than 250 titles. This collection includes both explicitly Catholic films and other movies that, while not Catholic in origin or subject, powerfully reflect Catholic themes and values. Together, they represent what many Catholic writers and reviewers have regarded as the Best Catholic Films of All Time.
Many of these films are available to stream or rent on Amazon. Older classics and foreign releases may instead be available on DVD or Blu-ray.
1903–1949 Best Catholic Films of All Time
Vie et Passion du Christ (1903), Intolerance (1916), The Kid (1921), Nosferatu (1922), Faust (1926), Metropolis (1927), Napoléon (1927), The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928), The Champ (1931), City Lights (1931), The Sign of the Cross (1932), The White Sister (1933), Little Women (1933), It Happened One Night (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), The Little Colonel (1935), Modern Times (1936), Grand Illusion (1937), La Grande Illusion (1937), Heidi (1937), Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), Boys Town (1938), You Can’t Take It with You (1938), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), Stagecoach (1939), Bachelor Mother (1939), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Earthquake in Chile (1940), Stolen Paradise (1940), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), How Green Was My Valley (1941), Sullivan’s Travels (1941), Citizen Kane (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941), La Virgen morena (1942), Mrs. Miniver (1942), Casablanca (1942), At the Crossroads (1943), Juvenilia (1943), The Song of Bernadette (1943), Going My Way (1944), The Keys of the Kingdom (1944), Fear No Evil (1945), Rome, Open City (1945), The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945), A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945), Un giorno nella vita (1946), The Two Barks Brothers (1946), It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Great Expectations (1946), A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), Gentleman’s Agreement (1947), Monsieur Vincent (1947), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Bicycle Thieves (1948), The Bicycle Thief (1948), Fighting Father Dunne (1948), The Miracle of the Bells (1948), Oliver Twist (1948), 3 Godfathers (1948), Come to the Stable (1949), The Third Man (1949), Sorrowful Jones (1949), Late Spring (1949), Samson and Delilah (1949)
1950–1959 Best Catholic Films of All Time
Guilty of Treason (1950), The Flowers of St. Francis (1950), Murder in the Cathedral (1951), The African Queen (1951), Diary of a Country Priest (1951), Quo Vadis (1951), The Lavender Hill Mob (1951), The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952), When in Rome (1952), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), Ikiru (1952), The Quiet Man (1952), Umberto D. (1952), I Confess (1953), I Was a Parish Priest (1953), Tokyo Story (1953), On the Waterfront (1954), Voyage to Italy (1954), The Left Hand of God (1955), The Court Jester (1955), The Dam Busters (1955), Ordet (1955), Smiley (1956), A Man Escaped (1956), The Searchers (1956), The Burmese Harp (1956), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957), Miracles of Thursday (1957), Twelve Angry Men (1957), Old Yeller (1957), Mother India (1957), Saint Joan (1957), The Seventh Seal (1957), The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), A Face in the Crowd (1957), Wild Strawberries (1957), Ash Wednesday (1958), The Sword and the Cross (1958), Smiley Gets a Gun (1958), Mon Oncle (1958), A Hidden Fortress (1958), Vertigo (1958), Nazarín (1959), Ben-Hur (1959), North by Northwest (1959), Pickpocket (1959), The Nun’s Story (1959), Sleeping Beauty (1959)
1960–1969 Best Catholic Films of All Time
Conspiracy of Hearts (1960), The Virgin Spring (1960), Francis of Assisi (1961), Hand in Hand (1961), The Hoodlum Priest (1961), Léon Morin, Priest (1961), Greyfriars Bobby (1961), El Cid (1961), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), The Nun and the Sergeant (1962), The Reluctant Saint (1962), Satan Never Sleeps (1962), The Miracle Worker (1962), The Cardinal (1963), The Demon (1963), Lilies of the Field (1963), 8½ (1963), The Leopard (1963), The Great Escape (1963), Behold a Pale Horse (1964), Becket (1964), The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964), The Sound of Music (1965), The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965), A Man for All Seasons (1966), The Trouble with Angels (1966), Andrei Rublev (1966), Who’s That Knocking at My Door (1967), The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), Vatican Conspiracy (1968), Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1968), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), The Milky Way (1969), My Night at Maud’s (1969), Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969)
1970–1979 Best Catholic Films of All Time
Don’t Deliver Us from Evil (1971), Rain for a Dusty Summer (1971), The Third Part of the Night (1971), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972), Child’s Play (1972), The Wrath of God (1972), Steptoe and Son (1972), Giordano Bruno (1973), In the Midst of My Days (1973), The Indian Priest (1973), Mean Streets (1973), The Pyx (1973), The Exorcist (1973), The Antichrist (1974), The Hiding Place (1975), Dersu Uzala (1975), Alice, Sweet Alice (1976), The Devil’s Playground (1976), In Search of the Pope’s Children (1976), The Last Supper (1976), Rocky (1976), Alucarda (1977), The Devil’s Advocate (1977), Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), The Sentinel (1977), Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Christmas Lilies of the Field (1979), Don’t Go in the House (1979), The Runner Stumbles (1979), Stalker (1979), The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)
1980–1989 Best Catholic Films of All Time
The Ninth Configuration (1980), The Day Christ Died (1980), The Blues Brothers (1980), The Elephant Man (1980), Bad Manners (1984), Mass Appeal (1984), The Assisi Underground (1985), Heaven Help Us (1985), No Surrender (1985), Padre nuestro (1985), Chariots of Fire (1981), Gandhi (1982), The Fourth Man (1983), The Scarlet and the Black (1983), Tender Mercies (1983), The Mission (1986), Sea of Silence (1986), Thérèse (1986), The Sacrifice (1986), Au revoir les enfants (1987), The 26 Martyrs of Japan (1987), The Miracle (1987), The Rosary Murders (1987), Babette’s Feast (1987), Grave Robbers (1989), Like a Prayer (1989), Nakausap Ko ang Birhen (1989), Dekalog (1989), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Henry V (1989), Field of Dreams (1989), Francesco (1989)
1990–1999 Best Catholic Films of All Time
Mermaids (1990), Cold Heaven (1991), Bad Lieutenant (1992), Blue (1992), Lorenzo Ruiz: The Saint… A Filipino (1992), Charlemagne, le prince à cheval (1993), The Chill Factor (1993), Household Saints (1993), Groundhog Day (1993), The Age of Innocence (1993), Schindler’s List (1993), A Friend to Die For (1994), Quiz Show (1994), The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Three Colors: Blue (1993), Three Colors: Red (1994), Three Colors: White (1994), The Addiction (1995), Broken Silence (1995), Faustina (1995), Gospa (1995), The Seventh Room (1995), Braveheart (1995), Babe (1995), Dead Man Walking (1995), Khamoshi: The Musical (1996), Kristo (1996), The Spitfire Grill (1996), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Mother Teresa: In the Name of God’s Poor (1997), Life Is Beautiful (1997), La Ville dont le prince est un enfant (1997), The Staircase (1998), New Waterford Girl (1999), Stigmata (1999), The Third Miracle (1999), The Iron Giant (1999), The Truman Show (1998), The Prince of Egypt (1998), Les Misérables (1998), Beau Travail (1999), The Straight Story (1999), The Green Mile (1999)
2000–2025 Best Catholic Films of All Time
The Apocalypse (2000), Bless the Child (2000), Chocolat (2000), Joseph of Nazareth (2000), Liam (2000), Lost Souls (2000), Padre Pio: Miracle Man (2000), Prymas – trzy lata z tysiąca (2000), St. Patrick: The Irish Legend (2000), The Miracle Maker (2000), Quo Vadis (2001), The Others (2001), Edges of the Lord (2001), To End All Wars (2001), Gangs of New York (2002), The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002), Stolen Summer (2002), Daredevil (2003), Maria Goretti (2003), Mother Teresa of Calcutta (2003), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Man Dancin’ (2004), The Holy Girl (2004), Doubt (2008), The Passion of the Christ (2004), The Village (2004), Into Great Silence (2005), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), Karol: A Man Who Became Pope (2005), Cinderella Man (2005), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), Baptism of Blood (2006), The Da Vinci Code (2006), Karol: The Pope, The Man (2006), Goya’s Ghosts (2006), Bella (2006), The Light of the World (2007), Love of Siam (2007), No Country for Old Men (2007), The Desert Within (2008), Paul VI: The Pope in the Tempest (2008), The Dark Knight (2008), Gran Torino (2008), Angels & Demons (2009), The Haunting in Connecticut (2009), Lourdes (2009), The Secret of Kells (2009), Sister Smile (2009), Up (2009), Miracle of Marcelino (2010), Restless Heart: The Confessions of Saint Augustine (2010), Of Gods and Men (2010), Inception (2010), Certainty (2011), The First Mass (2011), Stella Days (2011), The Tree of Life (2011), For Greater Glory (2012), Paradise: Faith (2012), Les Misérables (2012), Pedro Calungsod: Batang Martir (2013), Romans (2013), Prisoners (2013), Gravity (2013), Lemonade Blessing (2014), The Letters (2014), Calvary (2014), Interstellar (2014), God Willing (2015), Mariyam Mukku (2015), The Passion of Augustine (2015), The Amityville Legacy (2016), Communion (2016), The Exorcism of Anna Ecklund (2016), Ignacio de Loyola (2016), Joseph & Mary (2016), Silence (2016), Arrival (2016), Hail, Caesar! (2016), The Apparition (2018), Ave Maryam (2018), By the Grace of God (2018), The Dazzled (2019), Love and Mercy: Faustina (2019), The Lodge (2019), Our Ladies (2019), Saint Maud (2019), The Two Popes (2019), A Hidden Life (2019), Divine (2020), Fatima (2020), The Book of Fish (2021), Chiara (2022), The Great Silence (2022), The Wonder (2022), Family (2023), All Will Be Well (2024), Divorce (2024), Yohanna (2024), Mother (2025)
These films offer more than entertainment. They invite viewers to reflect on profound theological questions, moral struggles, virtue, sacrifice, redemption, and the human search for God. Whether you are looking for spiritual inspiration, thought-provoking drama, or simply a compelling story, this collection offers something for every viewer.
If you know of a film that deserves to be included, or if you believe a title on this list is not compatible with the Catholic faith, please feel free to leave a respectful comment. Your suggestions and feedback are welcome and will help improve this collection.
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