Top 10 Deep TV Shows, Series and Movies about Religion

I have watched some documentaries and TV shows about religions and I've always found them quite interesting. I have already written an article about some profound films and shows that I have enjoyed, and there are already a few related to religion. This article focuses on those that are more tightly connected to the existing religions. People have been attracted to the mysterious divine from the beginning of human history. Religions have played a huge role in the forming of the nowadays society. They still are powerful powers that shake the very foundations of one's own identity. This lost contains some interesting shows and films about religious motives from Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and others.

10. The Story of God with Morgan Freeman (2016-2019)

The famous actor Morgan Freeman explores the concepts of God in many religions around the world. This National Geographic series focuses on the analysis of the common beliefs regarding the supreme deity and also the differences.

9. Zen (2009)

The story of Dōgen Zenji, a famous Buddhist teacher in Japan, the founder of Sōtō Zen school is the plot of this film. This monk traveled to China to search for the authentic roots of Buddhism and returned to Japan with the newly obtained knowledge. The main theme is the spiritual journey with the truth as the main goal.

8. Little Buddha (1993)

This is one of the best movies about Buddhism I have watched so far. It explains the principles of reincarnation and describes the life of Siddharta Gautama who later became known as Buddha. Some spiritual masters are said to be reincarnated just like all living beings but these persons can be identified according to certain Buddhist teachings. One of the examples is Dalai Lama who is supposed to be an incarnation of Bodhisattva of Compassion and is searched for as a little kid after the death of the previous one. This movie is a similar story set in the modern western world.

7. Extreme Pilgrim (2008)

Peter Owen-Jones, an Anglican priest, travels the world and meets with various spiritual teachers who claim to know the path to enlightenment, the supreme goal of human life. He takes part in the spiritual exercises and methods of different religions and spiritual teachings.

6. Around the World in 80 Faiths (2009)

This BBC show again features father Jones who again travels the world and learns about different rituals and ways of connecting with the divine. The series cover a lot of big and small religions and is a great overview of different traditions.

5. The Bible (2013)

This series is a modern film adaptation of the famous stories from the Bible. It covers stories form Old and New Testament. The series is a nice compilation of the stories without excessive religious propaganda.

4. The Chosen (2017-2024)

The story of Jesus was described in many films. This series feels a little bit different. The main focus is not on the Jesus himself and his miracles. The story focuses more on the people he meets, on their own inner feelings and even probems with Jesus and his influence on their own lives. This adaptation of the Gospels is a little bit more free and depicts Jesus more as a human being with the same feelings as any other ordinary man. Now, thinking about unique portrayals of Jesus, I would also love to recommend the movie Last Days in the Desert (2016) which shows a fictional story that is set to his fasting in the silence of the desert. Ewan McGregor plays Jesus here, and this led to many fake trailers to Obi-Wan Kenobi series.

3. The Two Popes (2019)

Pope Francis who was elected as the head of Catholic Church replaced the retired Pope Benedict. The world viewed these two as quite opposite extremes. The traditional vs the modern view on the Church. This movie is based on these differences between these two popes and depicts them in a funny and cute way in a form of anecdotal conversations between them.

2. Saint Young Men (2012-2013)

This might seem to be totally out of place here. Japanese anime, here? Yes, this anime series is a little bit of slice-of-life fantasy and comedy, but to me, it is very profound and contains a great message of religious tolerance and kindness. Jesus and Buddha are tired of staying in heaven so they decided to go on a vacation on Earth. The rent a flat in modern Japan and just live a normal life there. There are a lot of references to the stories from the Bible and Pali canon, and even other deities from other world religions appear from time to time. It is a nice and cute story that does not offend any religion. Unfortunately, this anime does not cover the whole original manga comics, so fans of this need to read the rest.

1. The Departure (2017)

This is a documentary film about a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk who helps people with suicidal thoughts. Suicide and depression is an important problem of our modern society. Especially in Japan these belong the painful and crucial social questions. We all have a past that formed our minds, it's not up to us to make it into something beautiful. The future is nothing distant, it is being created here and now. The film is not a self-help movie with ideal motivational feel but a true raw story dealing with the depths of the human mind not just of the people who seek help but also of those how provide the help.

I hope this list can help you to discover more about spirituality of various religions. Let me know in the comments if you would add something which is missing!

I's also like to mention and interesting film called Freud's Last Session (2023) which describes the meeting of the famous psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud and writer C. S. Lewis. They discuss the idea of God and religion, each defending the opposite opinion.

Keywords: cinema, meditation, contemplation, deep story
#film #movie #cinematography #philosophy #deepstory