Film
Do You Believe?
A faith-driven ensemble drama following interconnected lives changed by an encounter between a doubt-plagued pastor and a street preacher. Shot with conviction but without irony, it's a sincere exploration of belief in action. Made for and by people who take Christianity seriously, though its heart is earnest rather than preachy.
If you liked this
Fireproof2008
A marriage on the brink is tested by faith and deliberate action. Like *Do You Believe?*, it treats spiritual commitment as a genuine problem to solve, not a backdrop, with real emotional weight beneath the message.
But The dialogue can feel written rather than spoken, and the romance arc resolves through doctrine rather than earned reconciliation. Heavy-handed at moments.

The Case for Christ2017
Mira Sorvino returns to faith-centered drama here, joining a story about intellectual resistance to belief. It shares the ensemble-journey structure and the seriousness about faith as life-altering, not comfortable.
But Structured as a conversion narrative, which limits where it can go. If you're skeptical of the premise, the film won't convince you—it's made for people already asking the right questions.

War Room2015
Released the same year, this explores faith through the specific lens of prayer as action. Another Kendrick brothers film with the same DNA: spiritual warfare treated as real, consequences shown, no irony.
But The supernatural elements are played straight, which requires buy-in. The pacing is deliberate to the point of slow for viewers impatient with reflection.

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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Ikiru1952
Both films argue that belief—whether spiritual or humanistic—is only real when it becomes action, and that small kindnesses matter in a vast, indifferent cosmos.
Kurosawa's masterpiece about a dying bureaucrat searching for meaning through action. Not religious, but structurally identical: a life reconsidered, small acts of faith in the face of meaninglessness, the question of what belief demands we actually do.
But Black-and-white, subtitled, 143 minutes of quiet Japanese cinema. The pace is meditative, not urgent. Requires surrender to a different rhythm entirely.

More like this (8)
Heaven Is for Real2014
A small-town pastor confronts doubt when his son claims to have visited heaven. Quieter and more introspective than expected, genuinely curious about how faith holds or breaks under pressure.
But Resolves some tensions by fiat rather than earned argument. Depends on accepting the central miracle as given rather than interrogating it.

The Shack2017
Another ensemble spiritual drama wrestling with theodicy—why suffering exists if God is good. Sam Worthington grounds it in genuine pain. Shares the structure of lives intersecting around a spiritual crisis.
But Ambitious theology rendered through dialogue that tells rather than shows. The CGI sequences feel incongruous with the intimate human drama.

I'm Not Ashamed2016
A biographical drama about a teenager's faith tested to its absolute limit. Treats belief not as comfort but as a choice made at genuine cost. Unflinching about the stakes.
But The tragic real-world event it's based on carries weight that cinema sometimes exploits rather than honors. Difficult subject matter handled earnestly but not always with enough distance.

Paul, Apostle of Christ2018
A contemplative drama about faith in its final hour—Paul awaiting execution, reflecting on a life lived for belief. Shares the seriousness about conviction as the through-line of a life.
But Very slow and interior. Almost no action. Requires patience with long scenes of two men talking about theology and doubt.

Risen2016
A Roman officer investigates the resurrection. Clever premise: a skeptic's journey told through investigation rather than revelation. Engages faith as a logical problem to solve.
But The skeptic's conversion feels rushed once it arrives. The historical drama elements underserve both genres.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe2005
A grand-scale faith narrative about sacrifice, redemption, and belief tested. Epic where *Do You Believe?* is intimate, but both trust that spiritual themes can carry real cinematic weight.
But Adapted from a beloved book, so it shoulders the weight of expectation. The CGI Narnia feels dated now, and some character moments get lost in spectacle.

The Normal Heart2014
Both believe that faith is measured by what we do for strangers, and that community is the arena where belief either becomes real or proves hollow.
A furious ensemble drama about the AIDS crisis, faith, community, and the demand that belief move bodies into the world. Same architecture of interconnected lives, but the stakes are plague, rage, and justice. A spiritual film that never uses the word.
But Angry and grieving. The tone is grief-stricken, not comforting. Some will find it more honest about suffering; others will find it unbearable.

Of Gods and Men2010
Both trust that faith is internal before it's external, and that the smallest acts—prayer, presence, acceptance—are where the sacred actually lives.
French film about Trappist monks in Algeria facing extremism. Contemplative, luminous, about faith maintained in silence and ordinary kindness rather than conversion narratives. Belief as steady practice, not epiphany.
But Slow to the point of meditation. Subtitled. Ends with ambiguity that refuses resolution. Not a film that reassures or concludes.

People
Cast
Tracy MelchiorGrace
Mira SorvinoSamantha
Sean AstinDr. Farell
Alexa PenaVegaLacy
Cybill ShepherdTeri
Delroy LindoMalachi
Lee MajorsJ.D.
Ted McGinleyMatthew
Grifon AldrenKriminal
Valerie DomínguezElena
Andrea Logan WhiteAndrea
Directing
- Jon GunnDirector
- Ben BarkerScript Supervisor
Writing
- Cary SolomonWriter
- Chuck KonzelmanWriter
Production
- Ashley LambertADR Voice Casting
- Ranjani BrowADR Voice Casting
- Cybill ShepherdAssociate Producer
- Mira SorvinoAssociate Producer
- Billy DaMotaCasting
- Dea ViseCasting
- Bob KatzExecutive Producer
- David A.R. WhiteProducer
- Elizabeth Hatcher-TravisProducer
- Harold CronkProducer
- Michael ScottProducer
- Mona NahmProducer
- Russell WolfeProducer