Eight Inspiring Movies for Easter Weekend

This Is Martin Bonner (2013)

Travis (Richmond Arquette) emerges from prison in Reno, Nevada, hoping to find his way back into a meaningful life. His only friend is Martin (Paul Eenhoorn), a former church business manager and recent divorcee who, suffering a crisis of faith, has left the church and begun a job equipping paroled convicts for societal reentry. It’s a story of unlikely second chances: Travis longs to restore his relationship with his estranged daughter. Martin haunts auctions hoping to spot items whose true value has been overlooked — and in doing so, he sharpens his vision (and ours) to see what might truly be possible for Travis, and for all of us who might hope to rise from whatever tomb-like circumstances hold us down.

Watch it: This is Martin Bonner on Prime Video

The Gleaners and I (2000)

In Agnès Varda’s great documentary, she’s a whimsical vagabond taking us on a journey across France to “glean” what others have missed — such as the esthetically imperfect potatoes dumped in open fields where malnourished people living in poverty can legally gather them. We wander vineyards after harvest and study damaged antiques repurposed into extraordinary works of art. We go dumpster diving for groceries. And we find people the world forgot — such interesting, idiosyncratic and lovable people! There is something Christ-like about Varda’s open-armed, open-hearted adventures. She welcomes everyone and saves her anger only for those who draw lines between “us” and “them.” She practices resurrection, raising up people some would rather keep buried. Varda is very good company at Easter time.

Watch it: The Gleaners and I on the Criterion Channel

Watership Down (1978)

Like World War I veterans C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, WWII vet Richard Adams served in the British army, then composed a grand fantasy epic haunted by war. This beautifully naturalistic animated adaptation concerns a company of rabbits whose home warren is endangered by human developers, so they flee into the wild English countryside. They face predators, automobiles, snares set by farmers and, worst of all, a fascist rabbit called Woundwort. The result is a rich and philosophical story in which the rabbits’ mythological and religious traditions play an essential role in sustaining their hopes. No spoilers — but there’s a spirit of resurrection about the film’s moving finale.

Watch it: Watership Down on the Criterion Channel, HBO Max

The Tree of Life (2011)

Has the angst on Sean Penn’s face ever been used to better effect? Terrence Malick’s meditation on the meaning of life stars Penn as Jack O’Brien (whose name is just one of the film’s references to the Bible’s Job). Deep in the furrows of Jack’s brow, we feel his disillusionment, anger and guilt over the death of his younger brother. A higher power (God? Ghosts? Therapy?) guides Jack’s mind through flashbacks of his childhood: He was the eldest of three brothers under the loving gaze of a beatific mother (Jessica Chastain) and a heavy-handed, hard-hearted father (Brad Pitt in what is arguably his greatest performance). The flashbacks reach back to Jack’s infancy, his conception — all the way back to the Big Bang of the cosmos’ creation. As the cosmic scope recontextualizes Jack’s questions about his father’s abuse, his mother’s naïve idealism and his own compulsively rebellious behavior, it becomes the cinematic equivalent of Augustine’s Confessions. Agnostic film critic Roger Ebert, who saw The Tree of Life as he battled cancer, called it “a prayer” — and one of the 10 greatest films ever made.

Watch it: The Tree of Life on the Criterion Collection, Prime Video

Ordet (1955)

In polarizing times, we need art that helps us believe in reconciliation — such as Carl Theodor Dreyer’s greatest masterpiece. A devout farmer’s sons are divided: One shares his faith, another adamantly rejects religious faith, and the third seems to have lost himself in the delusion that he is Jesus (they suspect he’s read too much Kierkegaard). A life-and-death crisis brings their differing convictions about faith and hope into stark relief. I’ve seen lifelong believers and stubborn skeptics alike moved to tears by the unforgettable finale. (And Babette’s Feast fans will see several of its stars much earlier in their careers.)

Watch it: Ordet on the Criterion Channel