We are pleased to announce we are creating a second Substack! This Substack will be focused on family-oriented movies, both new and old. Expect the same familiar format, but with some new additions!

We’ve been so blessed that families have used our list to find great movies to watch as a family, but we want to make a list that is exclusively family friendly.

Posts will have age ratings: each film added to the List and new movie reviews will include a recommendation for how old a child should probably be to watch one of these movies. We will be including both movies that all ages can watch and movies you can watch as your kids grow and get older. New movie reviews in particular will have a ‘Values Rating’ as to whether or not the film promotes virtues: this can be such a gamble when it comes to taking a family to the theater to check out something new!

(Also, to note, films we’ve already covered in this List, like Ratatouille, The Incredibles, and The Lion King, will not be repeated: this will be a fresh list!)

To see what we mean, check out our first review, of The Mandalorian and Grogu by Matthew Summers!

100 Movies Every Family Should See

The Mandalorian and Grogu | This is Not the Way

(Spoilers will be hidden in the footnotes…

Read more

2 months ago

Also, a note for paid subscribers: If you are a paid subscriber to this blog or become one in the future, we will gift you a free paid subscription for the ‘100 Movies Every Family Should See’ blog as well! (We will not be putting out paid content for a bit, so this will happen when that starts).

We really hope you will join us on this new adventure, and feedback is appreciated as we aim to keep this Substack similar to this one but also unique in its own way!

Excited to debut #1 on Friday! Subscribe to see what it is!

God Bless,

Sam, Joe, and Cameron

One of my favorite aspects of 100 Movies Catholics Should See is that it continues to grow past the list of 100 movies Catholics should see. I myself spearheaded the list of 100 Movies Catholics Should NOT See. The reviews provided by this Substack are a successful recommendations list. Yet, I am afraid we at 100 Movies have become victims of our own success.

100 Movies Catholics Should See has now recommended 140 movies; all of them are great. Unfortunately, 140 movies is too many to choose from on any given Friday night. Despite possessing the easiest access to the largest catalogue of movies ever seen in each of our smart TVs, the task of choosing what to watch has never been more difficult. We have all felt the anxiety of too many choices—too many voices—from Prime Video or Netflix or Disney+.

In my own time, I have watched 1000s of movies and logged over 1100 reviews on Letterboxd. I have waded my way through years’ worth of forgettable cinema and come back like a painter from the jungle with only the finest specimens for your enjoyment. I have gone through some of the major genres and chosen just one (impossible, I know) from each as my top recommendation.

DRAMA

When I find myself in the mood for a meat-and-potatoes drama that plumbs the proverbial depths of human experience, I find the confines of a single movie quite cramped. Instead, I have found the domain of the miniseries to be much more suitable to fully-realized characters and dramatic arcs. If you want a good drama, look no further than the 1981 BBC miniseries adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited.

Deeply Augustinian in its spirituality and beautifully gilded in its aesthetic, Brideshead Revisited is a drama for the ages.

HISTORICAL FICTION

There are dozens of classic historical fiction movies out there that could take this title. 1917 is a thrilling one-shot story of World War I. Saving Private Ryan is a brilliant story (with lots of shots) about World War II. What fascinates me most, though, is that brief two-decade period between the wars where mankind had just witnessed so much suffering in the Great War and was preparing to launch itself into an even greater war. For historical fiction about this era, I can’t recommend a better performance than Jeremy Irons’ role as Charles Ryder in Brideshead Revisited—the 1981 adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s greatest novel.

Have you ever wondered what Oxford was like in the shadow of the Great War? Brideshead Revisited will immerse you in the history.

SCIENCE FICTION

What is science fiction? When I think of some of the best science fiction movies out there, like Jurassic Park or RoboCop, I realize that people aren’t drawn to the “science” in science fiction, they’re drawn to the human stories of people encountering an ever-changing technological landscape. As the world becomes more inhuman, viewers relish the opportunity to watch someone simply being human amidst the ever-changing world. This sentiment is not new; it’s especially present in Derek Granger’s 1981 adaptation of Brideshead Revisited. Evelyn Waugh’s rhapsodic reflections on the relationship between technology and humanity take center stage in Jeremy Irons’ delicious voiceovers.

The human stories at the center of science fiction are always the best stories. Brideshead Revisited thrives at the intersection of technology and humanity.

FANTASY

At this point, I’m sure you’re thinking “Of course, this guy’s going to recommend The Lord of the Rings as the ideal fantasy movie; it’s a Catholic movie blog after all.” You would be right in most circumstances, but I really struggle when it comes to recommending which of the LOTR movies I really recommend. If you’re going to spend 14 hours watching something like all of The Lord of the Rings movies, I’d recommend watching a little-known BBC miniseries instead. You probably haven’t heard of it, but it’s called Brideshead Revisited; it’s an adaptation of a mid-20^th century English novel starring Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews. While not strictly fantasy, the story itself is fantastical.

What Brideshead Revisited lacks in orcs, elves, and dwarves, it makes up for in cocktails, sehnsucht, and cigarettes.

ROMANCE

The world of cinema has excelled in tales of romance over the past 125 years. From Animal Crackers to The Shape of Water, Hollywood excels in telling heartrending tales of passionate romances. While American cinema has always been (and will always be) the best (USA! USA! USA!) at making romantic films, the British have their fair share of legendary cinematic romances. If you want delightful stories of heartbreaking romance, look no further than England’s own adaptation of her best-loved novel, Brideshead Revisited, from 1981. The romance between Charles and Julia encapsulates that ever-human struggle beneath beauty’s own finitude.

I don’t want to spoil anything, but Granger’s Brideshead Revisited is the best romance since Abelard and Heloise.

COMEDY

Dying is easy; being funny is harder. It’s hard to be funny—really hard. Dozens of comedies come on to streaming platforms every year. None of them are even remotely funny.

True comedy greatness comes with the passing of time. One generation’s “Kilroy was here” becomes the next generation’s “skibidi toilet.” Time winnows the comedic chaff away and what remains is pure.

A great example of this is the comedic interactions and timing between Sir John Gielgud and Jeremy Irons in the 1981 miniseries Brideshead Revisited. The dialogue is the pinnacle of perfection in subtle British comedy. I highly recommend it.

___

These are just a few of my top recommendations for 100 Movies Catholics Should See. There are so many new things that you could watch, but why bother when you have the full DVD box set of Brideshead Revisited? Get a copy of your own at your nearest Goodwill today.

Good afternoon,

Just wanted to share this brief preview of a short film I directed this past summer. It’s still in post-production but I was able to finish the opening. I was able to buy some useful equipment for this project with funds from the blog, so I just wanted to show those of you who have been generous enough to give us some of your money where it’s been going!

Stay tuned for more updates, and enjoy this preview.

Directed by: Samuel Morales

Written by: Brendan Summers and Helen Davis

Starring: Stephen Hyland and Danny Duca

Cinematography: Anthony Morales and Paul Aguilar

When we started 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See, we did so out of a desire to share our love of film with our fellow Catholics. Cinema is truly a universal art form, something one can connect with just about anyone over. Our passion has been to highlight those films that exemplify certain universal truths about our faith and to offer our thoughts on why they are worthwhile. Navigating the current landscape of film can certainly be tricky, with many films ranging from not worthwhile to downright dangerous. Our initial list of 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See was intended to provide an ideal starting point for those looking to really dive into this incredible art form, highlighting movies we thought best articulated elements of the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. We have been truly edified by the enthusiasm with which the list was embraced by our community of readers, the discussions it has provoked, and the many suggestions we have received about what to include in subsequent lists.

The other week, we made the decision to place that initial list behind the paywall with the intention of providing a way to support us in raising funds for what has always been our goal with this publication, to one day publish it as a book. Over the past week, we’ve heard from many of you about our announcement. We are truly edified to hear so many of you point out the value and appeal this list has had to thousands of readers, from non-Catholics, for whom this list could be a true evangelization opportunity, to many of our Catholic readers who have found it useful in discerning the quality of entertainment they are bringing into their homes. This has always been our goal, and it is something that should be accessible to all.

We have therefore made the decision to remove the paywall from that initial list so that you can continue to benefit from it, share it with your friends, and hopefully engage in fruitful conversation with Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Our audience has grown thanks to all of you. This is a mission that we take seriously, and we are truly grateful for your continued support.

We welcome all of you to this Substack and believe much of it should be free, while offering an additional tier of posts to our paid subscribers, including deep dives, weekly discoveries, exclusive interviews, and insider reports from film festivals. With our publication goal in mind, we will continue to seek opportunities to raise funds so that we can pursue an independent book deal in the near term. For those of you so inclined, we are most grateful for your consideration in becoming a paid subscriber of this publication. We understand that recurring subscriptions are not always feasible, and we would ask that you consider supporting us on a one time basis by purchasing the book once it is published. We are also working on standing up a website where one time contributions will be possible. We are eternally grateful to the many of you who already support us, and to all of you who regularly read, comment on, and share our posts. This effort would not be possible without your continued support, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds in this area of evangelization.

God bless,

Joe, Sam and Cameron.

Good morning,

Before I begin, I’d like to give you all a quick status update on how we’re doing as a blog.

Last year was a year of tremendous growth, and our growth is only continuing, with January already having been an exceptional month.

In the course of a year we shot up 213.8% in total subscribers, and since we added the paid tier we’ve grown about 246.4% in paid subscribers. We really are grateful to all of you who have pledged to support us, especially those of you who pledged money before there was even a paid tier. We get just under a million web impressions on Google per month and are a top result for searches for “Catholic movies” and “Catholic movie reviews”.

Therefore, in an effort to continue this momentum, we are making a big decision in regard to our list of “100 Movies Every Catholic Should See”.

Starting this weekend, posts from the list itself will require our paid tier to view. All other posts that have been free will remain free, especially posts on our new list of “100 More Movies”. However, the list itself (linked below) will remain free to view: it’s just the posts themselves that will be paywalled.

Again, grateful for all of your support and can’t wait to show you what we have in store this year!

Many of you have asked us if there’s a checklist to print out to follow along “100 Movies Every Catholic Should See” to track how many you’ve seen, so with the help of my friend Lianna Youngman we were able to come up with the printable PDF attached below! (Also, if interested, fellow Substacker “Recess Hall of Famer” is going through the list and journaling his thoughts on them, check out his blog here).

Now, as you can see, there is a paywall below: we are really trying to grow this Substack and we are trying to publish a book, complete short films that we have produced, and be able to pay our writers a little bit to continue to bring you quality content. So, if this checklist is something that interests you, consider subscribing! Got lots of special paid posts coming your way.

Without further ado, here it is:

Read more

2025 was a great year for this blog! We grew a ton and we are really proud of the reviews, podcast episodes, and list submissions that we’ve put out. As you’ll see below, our #1 post on this list is now our most-viewed and most-shared post of all time, and it’s helped us out a ton! (Shout-out to my partners Joe and Cameron for putting that together).

We’ve got big moves planned for 2026, so stay tuned! But for now, here were our top 10 most read posts of 2025!

#10:

#9:

#8:

#7:

#6:

#5:

#4:

#3:

#2:

#1:

2015 really was a different time to be a filmgoer. I was pretty much still dependent on my parents to drive me if I wanted to see a movie at this point, but I remember it being a pretty big year: a new Avengers movie, Jurassic Park movie, AND the seventh installment of Star Wars being released that year was too much for the high school mind to comprehend.

Whenever we look back at film history decades from now and look at the early 21st century, we’ll see most apparently the shift in what kinds of movies got made before the advent of streaming. Mid-budget movies hadn’t been completely relegated to Amazon and Netflix and there were some pretty big swings amidst the increasing rise of franchise fare (see: above image).

So I’m curious to see: what was the best movie of 2015?

Vote at the link!

See Also:

Wikipedia page on 2015 in film

Poll Results on the 21st Century

Poll Results on the 1990s

Dear readers,

Back when we launched our paid subscriber tier, I teased the creation of a supporter Discord server where our supporters could “meet other Catholic cinephiles, hang out, discuss movies, and generally have a great time.” It has taken longer than I anticipated to get it set up, but I’m pleased to finally announce that we have launched the supporter server! In addition to being a place to chat and connect, we will have a monthly movie club, a movie swap game which I’m very excited about, occasional live-streams and (depending on legality) possibly movie streams, and other fun events!

This server is only open to our paid supporters here on Substack. If you are already a paid supporter: thank you! We greatly appreciate you and are excited to meet you in the Discord. You will be receiving an email shortly with an invite link at the email connected with your Substack account from 100catholicmovies@gmail.com. Check your spam if you don’t see it, and if you wait too long and the link expires, shoot back an email reply and we’ll get you access.

If you aren’t yet a paid supporter: please consider becoming one! As I said in our original announcement post, our goal is to continue sharing our appreciation for Catholic themes in film across different media, as well as producing our own Catholic films in the near future. Your support makes that goal possible, so please consider becoming one of our patrons!

Thanks to every one of our readers, and I hope to see you soon in the Discord!

Joe Wilson, editor and co-founder
Reconquista Media and 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See

Good morning!

In August, I had the privilege of joining Mass of the Ages director Cameron O’Hearn and CEO Tony Shriner as the first guest of their new series, Movie Crusade.

You may be wondering, these guys make documentaries on the Latin Mass, why the sudden shift? Cameron is a film director who loves movies as much as I do, and he has much bigger plans for “Movie Crusade” as a project (details of which I am sworn to secrecy) so make sure to subscribe to their channel after you check out the videos linked here! “Movie Crusade” is all part of their mission to help restore all things in Christ by changing the culture from within, can’t wait for them to roll out all their exciting plans for the future!

Here’s some other segments that were fun, I encourage you to watch all three episodes in full, and their newest episode with Father Calvin Robinson:

To check out the results of our last poll on the films of the 21st century, click here

After the success of our last poll, we got a lot of requests to delve into more decades, especially the 1990s!

Below you will find the new poll, please provide what is in your opinion the top 10 films of the 1990s. Remember that this is meant to be a ranked list!

Also, it helps so much if you can just write a one-sentence blurb describing why you put each film where you did!

To vote, click here!

We can’t wait to see the results!

Recently both IndieWire and the New York Times have put out lists, the former detailing the “Best Movies of the 2020s (So Far)” and the second dealing with the “Best Movies of the 21st Century”.

Personally, in regard to the first list (which has some questionable choices at best throughout), I just don’t think there have been 100 great- let alone good- movies since 2020. But in regard to the second list, there certainly is a lot to discuss.

Here’s a fun fact- call it collective millennial/zillenial/Gen Z bias on our part- but a pretty sizable chunk of the films from our list of “100 Movies Every Catholic Should See” (a list you may have heard of) are actually from the 21st century.

Now, you may look at this and be appalled- how did we miss so many great films from the Golden Age of Hollywood? Well, we certainly understand that sentiment, but a key part of us launching this list was to not only introduce Catholics to the classics, but also to give meaningful reconsiderations to many popular films. It’s also worth noting that the 2000s and early 2010s were genuinely a great era for filmmaking; with the rise of DVDs/home media, a lot of studios were able to finance riskier, more original fare that could be guaranteed to make back in disc sales what maybe it couldn’t drum up in box office sales. (See below: Matt Damon explaining this while suffering the Wings of Death)

The list from The New York Times is surprisingly…not that bad! For the list, “more than 500 filmmakers, stars and influential film fans” were polled, so there’s a pretty good mix of modern classics and some lesser known gems. I’m not sure I agree with Parasite being No. 1, but a couple of the films (including Children of Men, No Country for Old Men, and Arrival) also match what we have on our list!

This, of course, has made me curious enough to develop my own poll of the “Best Movies of the 21st Century”: feel free to vote down here on your TOP 10 favorite movies that have released since the year 2000. Ideally, we should get enough results from you all to reach 100 films.

(Also, because I feel we’re going to see it a lot on this list, let’s count The Lord of the Rings as one film)

CLICK HERE FOR THE POLL

Please comment if you are having trouble accessing the poll.

After this week, we will post the results! Can’t wait to see them.

As promised, we asked for your favorite musicals and you all gave a lot of enthusiastic replies!

The overwhelming majority of responses favored The Sound of Music, which just so happens to be #46 on our list!

As one of our readers put it:

“The Sound of Music is the best movie musical ever made! It also happens to sneakily be one of the best WWII movies ever made.” - Dominic Morlino

We also got a profound response from one of our readers, A.G. Machado from McDonough, Georgia, on how the film changed her life:

“You will probably get a lot of replies to this movie, but this movie changed my life. As a young Catholic going to a private Baptist school, I didn't see a lot of representation. Part of me thought my parish was the only one in all of Georgia. I remember the first time I actually remembered watching The Sound of Music, I was 6-7 and it came on ABC over the Easter break. The moment we meet Maria in the fields, I became transfixed. This was a multifaceted, strong, kind, loving woman character who was everything I was. She was a nun who was struggling to find her place in the world. She became a caretaker who struggled to adhere to the Captain's strict guidelines for his family. She was a lover who struggled to let go of her old life. Now, when I was a child, I only felt out of place, but as an adult, I feel these themes more deeply.

After high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I considered being a missionary or discerning holy orders. However, the plans I had were no match for God. He led me straight to my now husband. It was only an act of God, just like Maria being assigned to the Von Trapp house. I had to learn British culture (which can be a bit uptight). I struggled to understand if this was God's plan or if I was putting off what He wanted me to do. I have found so much comfort in the movie, characters, and of course the songs.”

Also mentioned from our list of 100 was Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), with one reader writing:

“No, the songs aren't stellar and Peter O'Toole can't really sing. But his performance is stunning, and the love story will break your heart. A perennial favorite at our house.”

Here were some of the other picks!

Guys and Dolls (1955)

“Guys and Dolls is my favorite musical of all time. I watch it every year and never tire of the clever musical lyrics or the romance between the strict and strait laced Sarah Brown and the street wise sinner and gambler Sky Masterson.

I think the overall lesson is love can triumph over any and all circumstances.”

- Anne Hill from Biddeford, ME

Singin’ in the Rain (1952)

“Singin' in the Rain will forever be my all-time favorite musical. Musicals have always been to me much like opera, in one of two categories. They may be somber and with a moralistic story (e.g., Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera or Cabaret; or the operas "Lucia di Lammermoor," Wagner's "Ring," or "Salome"). On the other hand, they will be simply entertaining and, at times, even nonsensical, with a "story" (if even there is a story) that is humorous and not didactic (e.g., My Fair Lady, 42nd Street, and The Music Man; or buffo opera, such as "Cosi fan Tutti," "Marriage of Figaro" or "Barber of Seville"). Singin' in the Rain is clearly in the second category! What could be more insane than Debbie Reynolds jumping out of a cake; Donald O'Connor's silly number, "Make 'Em Laugh," falling backward over a couch and climbing up a wall; or Gene Kelly's getting drenched in in a downpour, dancing and singing with a silly smile on his face and mocking policeman? Combine the marvelously composed music with a catchy little plot on the first "talkies" movies and talented entertainers, and one has pure unmitigated fun. Smiling at the end is guaranteed!”

- Carol Daugherty Rasnic from Signal Mountain, TN

Thanks to all who replied! We will get our next question for “Reader Replies” out next week!

We’re starting a new series!

For ‘Reader Replies’, we are looking for 1-2 paragraph answers to our burning questions. For this week, the question is:

“What’s your favorite movie musical?”

Email your submissions to 100catholicmovies@gmail.com, and we’ll pick a handful to put on our site next week! Also submit your name, and where you’re from.

Can’t wait to hear from you!

Hello everyone! We want to thank all of you for the amazing support and enthusiasm you have shown lately for 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See. When we started this blog two years ago, we never could have imagined the awesome community that would spring up around this project, or that so many people would appreciate our writing and gravitate towards this subject. Catholicism and movies are our passions, and we are delighted and grateful to find so many awesome people that share those passions! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the love and support you’re shown us so far in our mission to spread the Gospel through film and film criticism. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.

With the amount of growth we’ve seen in the past couple months, we have been discussing where we want to go from here. We completed our first major goal (The List) and we’ve got plenty of other projects we want to tackle. As we prayed about and discussed our next steps, we decided that we are now ready to take on more ambitious projects and go from just criticizing films to actually making them. We also want to grow our podcast and bring you more amazing film discussion, as well as revive our Youtube channel and reach new audiences there.

Writing articles and posting them on Substack is fairly cheap; these other endeavors, however, come with costs. Therefore we come before you like the medicants of old to humbly ask you to support us monetarily. We looked at various other support platforms, but the built-in tools on Substack seem to have everything we need to provide some extra perks and benefits to our subscribers while keeping all our endeavors streamlined and minimizing the amount of platforms our audience will have to navigate. If you are able to support us, we greatly appreciate your generosity and hope to repay you, if not with better essays and art then at least with our prayers. If you are not able to support us right now, don’t worry! We are not throwing everything behind a paywall, and you will still get our essays, podcasts, and videos that you are currently used to getting for free. We hope this will be a new and exciting chapter in the 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See and Reconquista Media adventure, and we are blessed and grateful to all of you who are able to join us on our quest to conquer the media landscape for Christ!

What will paid subscribers get?

• We will be reviving the Weekly Watches series, so every Wednesday our supporters will get mini-reviews from 3-5 of our authors about the films they have discovered this week (starting this very afternoon!).

• We will also be reviving the Deep Dives and Underrated Gems series, and have plans for other in depth reviews of classic films which have not made the list. These will be available to our supporters only.

• Paid subscribers will get one week early access to our podcast, which will be posted for supporters here on Substack before it hits Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms.

• In the next month, we will be creating a Discord chatroom for our supporters. This will be a place to meet other Catholic cinephiles, hang out, discuss movies, and generally have a great time.

• We plan to have a monthly hangout livestream, either on Substack, Youtube, or Discord, where our paid supporters can ask us questions, bring certain movies to our attention, suggest essay and podcast topics and guests, get a sneak peak at what comes next, etc.

• Supporters will have access to our entire back catalog of essays and posts. Our goal was always to eventually turn The List into a book, and in talking to publishers it seems that we may need to put those essays behind the paywall eventually to get published. For now, The List posts will remain free to all, but the Critics Corner reviews and our other essays will go into the archive after they have been published for six weeks.

• Our undying gratitude and prayers.

What will remain free?

• Our weekly 100 More Movies posts will always be released for free, and will remain so at least for the first six weeks after publication.

• All of our new movie reviews will be released for free. We want as many Catholics as possible to make informed choices about the media they are considering watching.

• The podcast and Youtube videos will also remain free to all, although our supporters will get early access.

What will we do with the money?

We want to upgrade and expand every facet of our project here. We’re not simply going to pay for Sam, Joe, and Cameron to take a White Lotus-inspired trip to Bali; we’re not even planning on making this our full time job. Every penny that we are given will go straight back into providing high quality Catholic media and media criticism for you, our audience.

First, on Substack. Subscriptions will allow us to reimburse our writers for movie tickets, so we plan on publishing even more movie reviews for theatrical and streaming new releases. In the past, we’ve only been able to publish a review if one of our writers was already interested and planning on seeing a film, so there will be fewer releases that we miss due to lack of writer interest. If we hit certain revenue targets, we would eventually like to start paying our writers as well. Our writers are all amazing and committed to our mission, and we would like in justice to repay them for their good work once it is financially feasible to do so.

Secondly, the podcast and Youtube. Subscriptions will allow us to upgrade our sound equipment so the podcast and Youtube videos sound less echo-y and more professional. We will be able to provide our amazing video editor with more tools to do interesting things on both of these platforms, and overall upgrade the caliber of our audio and video productions. We may also be able to bring guests in to have in-person podcasts and collaborations, which would be awesome. Having now done both in-person and remote podcasts, I can’t overstate how much more personable and interesting an in-person conversation is, both for those talking and those listening, so we hope to be able to do more of that in the future.

Thirdly, Catholic film production. It has always been a dream of ours to be able to create great films from a Catholic perspective, and we are starting to take steps to make that dream a reality. We have, in fact, already finished one short film which we hope to share with you in the near future. It was a one-weekend, no-budget production as sort of a proof of concept that we could work together as a team, and we couldn’t be more proud of what we were able to accomplish. We already have other shorts in the works and, if we can get the funding, experience, and collaborators, production of feature films is in our moderate-to-long term plans. This is where I truly hope some of you will be convinced to support us; we have a dream to pull together some of the awesome Catholic people who are doing great work in the film industry and create a studio which will put out films which aim at the Good, the True, and the Beautiful in every aspect of production and story-telling. Filmmaking is a collaborative and expensive art, and so most of the money we raise through subscriptions will be squirreled away to try and accomplish this big dream of ours.

Conclusion

Once again, we would like to thank each and every one of our readers for their support and enthusiasm for 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See. We feel blessed beyond belief to have such a community of Catholic cinephiles to share our love for film with. Whether or not you choose to support us, know that we value and appreciate you and plan to continue writing, podcasting, and filmmaking for you as long as the Lord wills we do so. We thank you for joining us on this amazing adventure, and we promise to be good stewards of any support you are able to send our way. We look forward to the next steps on our journey and hope to be able to bring even more amazing, high-quality writing and art to you in the future! May God bless you and keep you, and grant you his peace.

Joe Wilson, Sam Morales, and Cameron DeLaFleur, editors and co-founders
Reconquista Media and 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See

Introducing: the top 100 movies Catholics should NOT see!

While Catholics have the freedom to watch movies critically, films often distort, mock, or attack faith in ways that can be misleading or harmful. Given the success of the first 100 recommendations, we thought it would be fitting to give our top 100 movies that Catholics should avoid at all costs in honor of the feast of St. Hilarius.

These films are not bad movies in terms of execution, but their outlook and message can be deleterious—proceed with caution! It’s probably a bad idea for us to even name these movies.

Here’s a sneak preview of our first 10!

Soul (2020)

Soul tells the story of a Jazz teacher (as we know, Jazz has voodoo origins—avoid it!) who dies by falling into a manhole and must finagle his way about the afterlife. A few metaphysical inaccuracies might be nitpicking, but Soul takes metaphysical errors to a whole new level! Apart from saying that the soul pre-exists the body, the movie depicts a level of ethereal bureaucracy that borders on the blasphemous—do NOT watch this film.

Inside Out (2015)

You might think that Inside Out is a sweet film about a young girl learning to manage her emotions, which it is. What Inside Out leaves out though is all the more egregious! Instead of delineating the intricately beautiful tripartite division of the soul, Inside Out reduces humans to simply only having passions by neglecting the Intellect and Will. Definitely DO NOT WATCH!

Coco (2017)

There’s actually nothing wrong with the movie Coco, but the Mexican tradition of Dio de los Muertos is quite problematic in itself. The increasing prevalence of Santa Muerte—the goddess Death—as an anti-Virgin of Guadalupe figure means that Coco is too dangerous to consume. AVOID WATCHING AT ALL COSTS!

Up (2009)

While we all love fanciful tales, Up simply takes it too far. A thousand balloons lifting a house? Ridiculous. Talking dogs with social hierarchy that includes punishment and rewards? Give me a break! A heartbreakingly touching montage of a childless husband and wife that bums you out for the rest of the movie? Impossible! Each stretch of the imagination that Up forces you into takes you out of the story more and more until you can’t see straight anymore and you need Carl Fredricksen’s glasses just to see your way out of the theater again. If you value your sanity, don’t watch this film!

Ratatouille (2007)

If there is one movie that will never make you want to eat again, it’s Ratatouille. It’s famous tagline, “anyone can cook,” may be true, but that doesn't mean that anyone should cook—especially not rats. This movie literally teems with vermin. They try to make the rats all cute and cuddly by giving the protagonist all the wit and charm that Patton Oswalt can muster so that you’ll forget that you’re watching a film about rats, but it’s not enough. The rats are everywhere and you will be disgusted. If you want to vomit, watch this film; if you don’t want to vomit, don’t.

Cars (2006)

What is the record for most raunchy double entendre stuffed into a single film? Whatever the record is, Cars is certainly near the top. You can’t go 5 minutes in this film without there being some gag about lightning McQueen getting “flashed” by his groupies or another bit about “convertible waitresses” or “Lincoln continental breakfasts—” they’re all disgusting. If you enjoyed watching Cars, you’re a bad Catholic and should feel bad for enjoying it!

Finding Nemo (2003)

We will be the first to admit it: “Fish are friends, not food” is a great line. It’s pithy, catchy, and quotable. However, we here at the 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See team think that this film is part of a vegetarian scheme to turn everyone vegan—and we won’t stand for it! Fish are food, not friends.

Monsters, Inc. (2001)

Frankly, this movie is just too scary. Don’t watch it.

A Bug’s Life (1998)

Similar to 2007’s Ratatouille, this film is absolutely disgusting on so many levels, we can’t even get into it. Bugs are everywhere. Bugs are gross. There’s probably a bug on your shoulder right now. If you like getting into the creepy crawly insect world and going on some sort of heartwarming hero’s journey that has captivated audiences for almost three decades, you might like A Bug’s Life. But it’s not worth it. Don’t waste your time.

Toy Story (1995)

The grandpappy of them all, this film is atrociously, flagrantly, notoriously evil on every level. Toy Story was the beginning of a 28-year long plot to get people to bring their kids to see Lightyear which, ironically enough, isn’t quite as bad as people say it is. Toy Story tells a story about toys—you would think they could have spent a little more time coming up with a better title—and then takes this story and turns it into a touching coming-of-age-film about maturation, friendship, and parting. Why would you want to watch that?

Thus concludes our preview of the top 100 films that Catholics should not see. We probably shouldn’t have even sent you this list because now you’re just going to watch them! Filthy sinners!

Editor’s Note: Have a happy April Fool’s day ;) Sorry if you’re reading this and you were all ready to storm the comments!

With theaters still recovering from the pandemic, many theater owners are looking forward to a more robust 2025-2026 season, which is looking closer to peak 2017-2019 slates than we’ve seen in a long time. Some long-delayed films- like Bong Joon-Ho’s Mickey-17, are finally getting a release this weekend (review coming soon), but most films were able to be shot this past year after 2023’s late end to the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes.

While Steven Spielberg’s next feature- The Dish- won’t hit theaters until 2026, the acclaimed filmmaker still (as per usual) has his fingers in a number of pies: he is producing Jurassic World Rebirth which is being helmed by VFX maestro Gareth Edwards, and Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, a fictional tale of William and Agnes Shakespeare. His companies are also putting out movies: Home Alone director Chris Columbus is returning to feature-filmmaking with whodunit The Thursday Murder Club for Amblin Entertainment (distributed by Netflix).

Disney will be putting out a few (comparatively) risky ventures: Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator: Badlands will hopefully continue a hot streak of quality features from 20th Century Studios, with James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash serving perhaps as a more reliable hit for the studio. Here’s hoping third time’s the charm for Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four, but with a solid cast including Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the titular super-family, maybe it’ll surprise audiences and critics alike. Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E) will be helming his first live-action feature since John Carter, titled In the Blink of An Eye for Searchlight Pictures, a history-spanning journey through time that will reunite him with composer Thomas Newman.

Paramount is hoping to continue leveraging Glen Powell in the post-Maverick world with a remake of The Running Man, which, more importantly, will be Edgar Wright’s first film in four years. Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning would have been the third film in a row for the 62-year old star had the strikes not happened, but the wait for the (probably not) final installment of one of our greatest franchises only makes the anticipation all the sweeter (it ranked highest on our cumulative list of anticipated films, appearing on almost every list). Meanwhile, Lionsgate returns to the world of John Wick with Ballerina, while Rian Johnson will dip his toes into the whodunit genre one last time with another star-studded Benoit Blanc movie, Wake Up, Dead Man over at Netflix.

Sony’s tentpole (in lieu of further Spider-Man spin-offs) is the sequel 28 Years Later: shot by Danny Boyle with an iPhone (mirroring the original’s use of DV cameras) will be the first of two parts, with follow-up The Bone Temple having been shot back-to-back. But non-Marvel superhero fans can rejoice in Warner Bros’ “make-or-break” test for studio head honcho David Zaslav: Superman flies into theaters this summer, sporting a new lead actor and a bold creative vision from Guardians of the Galaxy helmer James Gunn. Expect to fall in love with Krypto the Superdog.

Outside of franchise fare, Wes Anderson will be back with a new film, The Phoenician Scheme, while Terrence Malick will (allegedly) finally release his film about Christ, The Way of the Wind, likely premiering at Cannes. Speaking of that festival, Ruben Östlund hopes to make a splash there again this year with his Keanu Reeves-led The Entertainment System is Down, a comedy about what happens on a flight when the aforementioned entertainment system shuts off. The Rock will make a play for Oscar gold with Benny Safdie’s wrestling biopic The Smashing Machine, while Jerry Bruckheimer looks to essentially remake his own Days of Thunder with the $300 million F1.

Oscar hopefuls also abound- especially at Netflix- with Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited Frankenstein starring Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein and his creation respectively. While his girlfriend Greta Gerwig works on her new Narnia movie, Noah Baumbach will return with Jay Kelly, another film for the streamer starring George Clooney and Adam Sandler (expect a dialogue-heavy family drama set at least partially in New York for this one). Taika Waititi hopes to make a post-Love and Thunder rebound with his Kazuo Ishiguro adaptation of Klara and the Sun, a dystopian science-fiction story starring Jenna Ortega and Amy Adams.

As always, there are many more films that will crop up throughout the year that currently have no distributor, so keep an eye out as 2025 progresses!

Let us know in the comments what films you’d like to see us cover this year!

We had such a great year in 2024, launching our podcast and YouTube channel and we’re so happy you all have embraced these new ventures! It’s bittersweet to be so close to the end of our initial “100”, but we promise we have lots on the horizon to look forward to.

We also hit our goal for 2024 of 1,000 subs, and are continuing to gain new subs every day!

Without further ado, here were our Top 10 most-viewed posts for 2024.

#10: “Prince of Egypt” by Lianna Youngman

“This film is an approachable, powerful, unapologetically good religious movie. It's not sickly sweet, it’s not hitting you over the head with cries to convert- but it does suck you in, mesmerize you with one of the best stories ever put into film, and then leave you to play the soundtrack on repeat for a solid week after.

It's the proverbial foot in the door for anyone who doesn't know where to start on religious movies. It's a source of common ground for the three major religions on this earth, and it's a conversation starter for anyone who appreciates cinema, music, history, and art. (The hieroglyphic dream sequence alone hits on every single one of these points in a manner I can only describe as jaw-dropping)”

#9: “A Catholic Defense of ‘The Chosen’” by Nico Silva

“What The Chosen is doing with its show is not unlike our ancient Christian and Jewish heritage of using Scripture as a jumping off point for the imagination within limits of orthodoxy and reverence. And I challenge anyone who has has yet to finish Season One or finished ONLY the first or second seasons, to push on to Season Three and see the good fruits of what Dallas over four seasons now has been able to do with the creative freedom he’s reserved for himself, and (in my opinion) so far used responsibly.

I won’t belabor the point further. The Chosen is good. It’s good for everyone, but Catholics especially can appreciate this show for its strengths and weaknesses this Lent. So give it a try (or a second look if you’ve given up on it in the past).”

#8: “Cabrini” Review by Joe Wilson

“Overall, Cabrini is an encouraging step forward for 21st century Catholic filmmaking. Monteverde has crafted a truly admirable film, one full of wonderful performances, beautiful visuals, and a strong and compelling story. Catholics must retake the arts if we want the Church to survive in the West, and I for one am very excited to see what projects Monteverde has lined up in the future. Hopefully other Catholic filmmakers will take up the banner as well and craft films as beautiful and excellent as Cabrini.”

#7: “Why You Should Avoid Netflix’s ‘Mary’” by Nico Silva

“The REAL story of Mary is the triumph of humility and the God who “exalts the humble and casts down the mighty from their thrones” (Luke 1:52): you know, like the actual Mary said in her Magnificat in the Gospel of Luke.

However, I doubt that’s enough for our attention obsessed-generation and its superficial, flashy hagiographies that seem to think virtue isn’t a compelling enough subject matter to depict without a bunch of contrived drama, grim near-brushes with death that go far beyond the Biblical texts telling of events (which honestly are enough on their own), and having to make Mary into 1st century Palestine’s “it” girl.

Hard pass.”

#6: “The Mission” by Joe Wilson

“There are really three missions in The Mission, each intertwined with the others. The first mission is Fr. Gabriel’s mission to the Guarani; the second, Rodrigo Montoya’s mission to find redemption; and finally, Cardinal Altamirano’s mission to suppress the missions and allow the Portuguese to occupy their land. Each of these characters represents a different philosophy of love, loyalty, and conscience, some of screenwriter Robert Bolt’s main preoccupations (see his other entries on this list, A Man for All Seasons and Lawrence of Arabia). Each man is totally dedicated to his mission, but they are each challenged by a different loyalty, a deep-seated element of their character, to abandon or redirect their mission. For each, many lives and many souls, including their very own, are at stake.”

#5: “Jesus Thirsts” Review by Joe Wilson

“I am not typically one to gush over every Catholic documentary that comes out. However, this one moved me powerfully through its excellent filmmaking, eye for beauty, and especially the marvelous stories which it tells. It was in theaters for three days last week and I have seen reports that it was so successful that it is coming back to some theaters on June 18 and 19.¹ I highly encourage any Catholic to go see it on those days and truly drink in the beauty and majesty of Christ in the Eucharist that it presents. I think it will deepen your faith in and love of Christ in the Eucharist; it certainly did for me. Jesus thirsts for us to come to Him in the Eucharist; and He is the Living Water which is the only thing that can truly quench the burning thirst within all of us.”

#4: “Am I Racist?” Review by Samuel Morales

“Matt Walsh himself is what makes this work: after watching the film it’s hard to imagine anyone else doing a better job than him at getting the people he interviews to realize the ridiculousness of what they believe (or claim to believe). He never once gets emotional, raises his voice, or goes farther than is necessary in his goal of revealing the truth. All he really has to do is ask the right questions (and find a good disguise) in order to accomplish his mission, and sometimes that means patiently sitting through hours of being told that he is a natural racist just because he is white.

The experience of seeing it in a theater is one that I highly recommend if you are interested in seeing it at all: I seriously can’t remember the last time I sat in a theater and laughed that hard with a bunch of other people who were laughing with me. It’s just as edifying as it is entertaining, and I hope it continues to dominate the box office for the length of its run.”

#3: “A Quiet Place” by Cameron DeLaFleur

“Few would have expected that John Krasinski’s horror thriller A Quiet Place would take the world by storm upon its release in the spring of 2018. Films of this genre tend to come and go with little mainstream fanfare, catering more towards a niche market than broad appeal. I remember first hearing about it through word of mouth and seeing it with some friends on a whim. It was a theater experience I’ll never forget. To this day, I don’t remember a film that had me more on the edge of my seat for the entire experience. A Quiet Place rightly lived up to the hype as an extremely taut and well crafted thriller which explored fresh creative ground in the saturated arena of mid-budget horror.”

#2: “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” by Cameron DeLaFleur

“With a fun and stylish execution, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, offers audiences simple yet profound lessons on the value of seeing the beauty in life’s ordinary moments while simultaneously believing in oneself to make that leap of faith into the unknown. There is no shortage of humorous moments and epic, eye-popping shots which awaken the adventurer in each one of us. A truly good work of art can speak to universal truths, no matter the genre or medium. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty will leave you feeling uplifted and with a smile on your face, perfect for the next family movie night.”

Before we announce our #1, just wanted to state that this was well and above our most-viewed post of the year; not only did it have three times the amount of views as the previous entry, but is officially our second most-viewed post of all time. Huge shout-out to Stephen Hyland and Liz Foeckler for writing this!!

#1: “Two Reviews of ‘Wicked’” by Stephen Hyland and Liz Foeckler

“The energy is there, and despite all my misgivings about Chu’s lack of cinematic vision, I was, at the very least, entertained. There is an element of old-school charm when the cinema world is given another screen musical. It hearkens back to an older era of entertainment that I hope to see more of again. I also hope that future musical adaptations will respect the medium enough to give audiences a full musical in one sitting.” (Stephen Hyland)

“As far as movie-musicals go, I thought Wicked was a very fun, very faithful, and surprisingly un-woke adaptation of what has quickly become, for many musical theatre fans, a ‘classic.’ Does it have all the same charm and charisma as the original Broadway show? No, not quite. But does it have a charm and flair of it’s own? I think Kristin Chenoweth would tell even the musical purists: ‘And though you protest/your disinterest/ I know clandestinely/ you’re gonna grin and bear it/this newfound popularity!’” (Liz Foeckler)

As always, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next year!

God Bless,

Sam and the Team at 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See

Episode 2 of the 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See Podcast is now live! We have an absolutely amazing guest this week: Dr. Onalee McGraw. Dr. McGraw is an expert in education and cinema whose work with the Educational Guidance Institute has aimed to combine her two passions to create a curriculum for kids based on classic cinema to teach about civic virtues. She's got a lot of hot takes and strong opinions when it comes to film and she was a delight to talk to! She brings a unique perspective on cinema and community, especially cinema’s power to work as a force for moral change in society. This is an episode you’re not going to want to miss!

You can find the 100 Movies Every Catholic Should See Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. We’d appreciate your likes, shares, and subscriptions if you think this episode is as amazing as we do! Enjoy!

Apple Podcasts Link

Amazon Link

Good morning!

As a good amount of you rightly guessed from our mysterious allusions on Instagram, the project we have been working on getting underway for the past few weeks is indeed a podcast!

We have a lot of great ideas going forward for different topics to cover with the show and we’ve got some pretty cool guests lined up! Consider following us on Spotify and/or Apple and Amazon (currently working on getting us online on the latter platforms ASAP).

We had a fun time recording and look forward to consistently putting these out in the future. Enjoy!