fatima 2020 movie reviews

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, chaz's journal, great movies, contributors.

Now streaming on:

In 1917, in the Portuguese town of Fátima, three small children were visited by an apparition of the Virgin Mary. She urged them to pray, to dedicate themselves to the rosary, and in so doing they could bring about an end to the war then ravaging Europe. The children, Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, told their parents in descriptions vivid and specific: the vision was "brighter than the sun," a dazzling figure shedding "rays of light". As word got around, pilgrims flocked to Fátima. (Fátima is still a regular pilgrimage destination.) The two younger children died in the flu epidemic of 1918, but Lucia lived to the age of 97, dying in 2005. She became a nun and published multiple memoirs, the main one being Memórias da Irmã Lúcia . Marco Pontecorvo ’s "Fátima" tells the story of these children and the upheaval in their lives—and their family's lives—due to the children's refusal to retract their story, even when put under enormous pressure from civil and religious authorities. " Fatima " is told simply but emotionally, prioritizing the sensorial reality of the children's world and the people inhabiting it. This devotion to the "real" makes the holy vision palpable and plausible.

Marco Pontecorvo is the son of the legendary Gillo Pontecorvo ("Battle of Algiers"). He has worked mostly in television, and "Fatima" is his third feature. For "Fatima," he and his co-screenwriters Valerio D'Annunzio and Barbara Nicolosi , use a framing device: in 1989, an author and professional skeptic ( Harvey Keitel ) visits the aging Sister Lúcia ( Sônia Braga ) in her Carmelite convent in Coimbra to interview her about her experiences. Over the course of the film, Keitel's character raises questions, interrogates her testimony, and Sister Lúcia answers forthrightly, sometimes teasing him with little quips, a twinkle in her eye. (People who went to visit Lúcia over the years mention her sharp sense of humor.) These conversations provide space for the philosophical and theological questions the story presents. Keitel's manner with Sister Lúcia is respectful and both allow the other to have their say. "Not everything unexplainable is necessarily transcendent," Keitel says. Sister Lúcia responds, "Faith begins at the edge of understanding." While there is a gap between the characters that will probably never be bridged, their conversation is invigorating, a healthy debate that avoids polarizing hostility.

The main action takes place in 1917, where Lúcia (the remarkable Stephanie Gil ), and her cousins (Jorge Lamelas and Alejandra Howard) wait in the dusty fields for their apparition ( Joana Ribeiro ) to return to them. When she appears, she does so softly, walking in bare feet, wearing a white dress and veil. Her message is urgent: the war must end. Lúcia's brother Manuel has been declared missing in action and Lúcia's mother Maria (Lucia Moniz), an intense mercurial and sometimes harsh woman, is fearful she hasn't prayed hard enough for her son's return. Maria is convinced Lúcia is lying. Why would the Virgin appear to a child, and not a very good child at that? The Mayor ( Goran Visnjic ), a secular man, is alarmed by the pilgrims flocking to Fatima, and goes so far as to padlock the church. He also pulls the children in for rounds of interrogation. The Catholic Church hierarchy gets involved, with the local priest (Joaquin de Almeida) calling in the big guns. The children remain steadfast. “She was as real as you are,” Lúcia tells her outraged mother.

One of the things that distinguishes "Fatima" from similar films is its careful attention to character development. Everyone gets to be complex: the children, their parents, the priest. Even the Mayor has a complicated relationship with his wife, his wife who loves her husband but believes the children. The Mayor could have been portrayed as a sneering villain. You can see the enormous pressure he's under. Lucia's mother could also have been portrayed as a villain. She's not. She's torn in a million different directions.

Miracles are tough to portray on film. You run the risk of being hokey, or turning a spiritual experience into little more than a CGI effect. Pontecorvo and his cinematographer Vincenzo Carpineta avoid this by turning their lens onto the natural world. The focus on the tall grasses moving with the wind, the rustling of the leaves, makes nature seem like an emanation of a larger entity trying to communicate. Terrence Malick is a master at this, evoking the experience of faith through constant shots up into the air, seeking the light, with fragmented voiceovers coming like whispered prayers. Pontecorvo doesn't push it as far as Malick pushes it, but he does create a sense of the physical world not being just physical. There's a beautiful moment where Lúcia suddenly sees the treetops above her head wavering, as though they are not trees at all, but reflections of trees in the water. Reality is not real, there's something beyond.

As I was thinking about this problem of portraying miracles on film, Henry Ossawa Tanner's stunning 1898 painting "The Annunciation" came to mind. When I lived in Philadelphia, I'd go "visit" it every time I went to the Museum of Art. Done mostly in shades of red and yellow, "The Annunciation" shows a dark-haired Mary, sitting on a bed and staring across the room at a blazing column of flame. It almost looks like a bright slash in the fabric of time. In so many paintings of the Annunciation, the angel appears with wings, halo, the expected accessories. Tanner, though, captures something else, the experience of the transcendent. 

Pontecorvo, in his simple and patient way, by focusing on the earthiness of the surrounding world, as well as the three-dimensionality of the human beings in that world, accomplishes the same thing. There's one sequence when the children are given a vision of the pits of hell, and this doesn't work nearly as well as the rest of it. It's very literal, with screams and fireballs and smoky blackened sky. Compared to the rest of the film, it screams special effects lab, and doesn't have half the power of a woman in a white veil walking across a field.

The story of "Our Lady of Fatima" has been told many times before, the most well-known being Warner Brothers' 1952 version "The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima." Faith-based films are nothing new, and the tradition continues with films like " The Passion of the Christ ," the works of Malick, and Martin Scorsese's " Silence " (to name a few). "Fatima" takes belief seriously, but it takes humanity seriously too.

Sheila O'Malley

Sheila O'Malley received a BFA in Theatre from the University of Rhode Island and a Master's in Acting from the Actors Studio MFA Program. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

Now playing

Tomris Laffly

My Spy The Eternal City

Christy lemire.

Mother, Couch!

Robert daniels.

Hundreds of Beavers

Matt zoller seitz.

Deadpool & Wolverine

Simon Abrams

Film credits.

Fatima (2020)

Rated PG-13 for some strong violence and disturbing images.

113 minutes

Harvey Keitel as Professor Nichols

Sônia Braga as Sister Lucia

Goran Visnjic as Artur

Joaquim De Almeida as Father Ferreira

Lúcia Moniz as Maria Rosa

Joana Ribeiro as Mary

• Marco Pontecorvo
• Barbara Nicolosi

Cinematographer

• Vincenzo Carpineta
• Alessio Doglione
• Paolo Buonvino

Latest blog posts

Apple TV+'s Bad Monkey Struggles to Find Its Voice

The Box Office is Everything: In Praise of the Window at the Front of the Theater

The Fairy Tale Shoes: Interview With the Cast and Crew of Cuckoo

On the Trail: India Donaldson on Good One

‘Fatima’ Review: Faith-Based Movie Seeks Contemporary Lessons in Century-Old Miracle

A beatific vision of Mary contrasts with the dark, horror-movie tone director Marco Pontecorvo chooses for this redemptive religious tale.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

• Filmland: Arkansas Cinema Society Brings Global Filmmakers to Little Rock 1 day ago
• ‘Borderlands’ Review: After ‘Tár,’ It’s Strange to See Cate Blanchett Slumming in a Middling Video Game Movie 6 days ago
• I Survived a Marathon of Zack Snyder’s Unrated ‘Rebel Moon’ — But Still Can’t Tell You Why It Exists 1 week ago

In 1952, Warner Bros. released a version of “The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima ” that boasted, “To the best of human knowledge, and according to the testimony of 100,000 witnesses … This Is A True Story!” That film, hokey in some ways, inspirational in others, purported to be a fact-based account of a faith-based story, one that occurred in 1917 against the backdrop of a world war, wherein three Portuguese shepherd children experienced several visits by the Virgin Mary, who bestowed certain insights upon them before unleashing a spectacular solar light show so as to convince all those assembled.

Director Marco Pontecorvo revisits these events in “Fatima,” a superficially suspicious, yet ultimately accepting historical drama which arrives at a moment when faith and facts find themselves in direct opposition, when claims of “fake news” (a term that predates these miracles, popularized as far back as 1915 by Woodrow Wilson) render the very notion of “a true story” all but meaningless. The film releases in theaters and on demand amid a global crisis — not just the pandemic, but a steady, numbing attack on any form of belief that doesn’t support one’s political agendas. While not especially artful, “Fatima” honors those who stand by their convictions. That its role models are children makes the message all the more remarkable.

Related Stories

‘deadpool & wolverine’ underscores mcu’s much-needed evolution, sandy bresler, agent to jack nicholson for six decades, dies at 87.

The film’s subject isn’t Mary’s divine revelations, but the strength of 10-year-old Lúcia (“Terminator: Dark Fate” plus-one Stephanie Gil), a devout Catholic and devoted daughter whose spiritual visions forced her to stand up to naysayers and assert her truth: that she and two younger cousins were entrusted with three divine secrets. “Why would the mother of God choose you of all people?” Lúcia was asked by peers, parents and the local priest (Joaquim de Almeida) at the time — a question that she continues to face decades later when an incredulous academic (Harvey Keitel) visits Lúcia (now played by Sônia Braga), who’s become a nun, in the convent.

Popular on Variety

“I can only give you my testimony,” Sister Lúcia replies. “I don’t have answers for everything.” That’s a fine definition of faith, but won’t do much to impress nonbelievers, who have good reason to wonder why Mary would appear to a group of kids in Portugal of all places. (Fátima was the nearest decent-sized city, but these incidents occurred in the middle of nowhere, to a bunch of nobodies, in a way that took the Catholic church some time to embrace. A century later, Pope Francis canonized the two youngest as saints.)

By depicting the incidents of 1917 — including the visitations themselves — from young Lúcia’s point of view, the movie doesn’t leave much room for doubt. Miracles, like magic, don’t always play well on-screen since, willful suspension of disbelief aside, audiences know deep down that they’re being manipulated. As consumers of all kinds of propaganda, we’ve been conditioned to question what we see, and casting a gentle, gorgeous model (Joana Ribeiro of “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote”) as Mary is a risk. Many viewers will come to the film with a very different idea of this holy figure in mind, while others might have preferred to use their imaginations. Mary’s heart may be immaculate, but should she really appear so elegant? So European? So young?

After a somewhat jumbled opening, in which the narrative skips back and forth between younger and older Lúcia, audiences come to understand the complex pressures impacting this simple girl: With her older brother (João Arrais) enlisted in the war, Lúcia worries about his fate, although the country’s new Republican government — personified by an enlightened but unsympathetic mayor (Goran Višnjić) — discourages and disparages his constituents’ (in his view) ignorant adherence to religion.

When the “Lady of the Rosary” appears to Lúcia and her two young cousins, Jacinta (Alejandra Howard, a cheek-tweakingly cute Hollywood-style child actor) and Francisco (Jorge Lamelas, looking like an escapee from a Rossellini movie), in a field outside of town, the divine visitor advises them not to speak of their encounter. That very night, Jacinta spills the beans, and from then on, there’s no stopping the circus: Pilgrims come from far and wide to meet the blessed trio, while local and religious authorities, including the archbishop, try to get them to recant.

No one is more distressed than Lúcia’s mom, Maria Rosa (Lúcia Moniz, among the lesser-known names in this star-studded ensemble, yet responsible for its most impressive performance). Her disapproval creates a unique kind of tension, as Lúcia must choose which of these maternal figures to honor: her earthly mother or the Virgin Mary. The latter asks her to suffer on behalf of sinners, going so far as to reveal that hell is real — not that the terrifying CG version shown here qualifies as particularly convincing.

Perhaps the strangest choice by Pontecorvo (a DP on “Rome” and “Game of Thrones” who also happens to be the son of “The Battle of Algiers” maestro Gillo Pontecorvo) is to shoot everything — not just these visions, but the period sequences as well — in the ominous, green-tinged style of an early-2000s horror movie. At times, Lúcia looks like a girl possessed, rendered creepy by her determined stare and darkened eye sockets. Pontecorvo likes to place her in shadows, which compounds the effect of making her look spooky. Perhaps the goal was not to over-idealize this young messenger, even if the resulting portrayal leans so far in the other direction that, with a slightly more menacing score, “Fatima” would feel less like a tale of miracles than like the latest exorcism-themed exploitation movie, or something along the lines of Blumhouse’s blasphemous “The Nun.”

All this is to say that Pontecorvo’s stylistic tendencies interfere more than they add. Scene after scene begins with a distracting camera move or dynamic crane shot, presumably designed to add grandeur, but instead drawing unwanted attention to the director’s technique. Pontecorvo further confuses things with strange blurring effects and unnerving dream sequences, which distinguish “Fatima” from the square, proselytizing feel of the 1952 film, although its motives are the same. The movie was greenlit in conjunction with the centennial celebrations of the so-called Miracle of the Sun, and the film can’t resist getting flashy with its grand finale. Will it matter? “Some people will never believe,” Mary says. For those who do, however, this is just the spiritual fireworks show they’ve been waiting for.

Reviewed online, Los Angeles, Aug. 23, 2020. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 113 MIN.

• Production: (U.S.-Portugal) A Picturehouse release and presentation of an Origin Entertainment, Elysia Prods. production, in association with Rose Pictures. Producers: James T. Volk, Dick Lyles, Stefano Buono, Maribel Lopera Sierra, Marco Pontecorvo, Rose Ganguzza, Natasha Howes. Executive producers: Marco Valerio Pugini, Holly Carney, David Fischer, Frida Torresblanco, Matthew J. Malek. Co-producers: Ute Leonhardt, Edoardo Ferreti. Co-executive producer: David Nicksic.
• Crew: Director: Marco Pontecorvo. Screenplay: Marco Pontecorvo, Valerio D’Annunzio, Barbara Nicolosi. Camera: Vincenzo Carpineta. Editor: Alessio Doglione. Music: Paolo Buonvino.
• With: Joaquim de Almeida, Goran Višnjić, Stephanie Gil, Lúcia Moniz, Sônia Braga, Harvey Keitel, Alejandra Howard, Jorge Lamelas, João Arrai.

More from Variety

‘instigators’ star jack harlow admits acting ‘is harder than i thought’ after movie debut in ‘white men can’t jump’: ‘i’ve got to get better’, hollywood must define ai technical standards to prep for its future    , robert downey jr. turned down iron man cameo in ‘deadpool & wolverine’ after reading scene; writers also had an idea to bring the six original avengers back, matt damon ‘can’t imagine living under’ the same press scrutiny as ben affleck: ‘we’ve had parallel careers’ but ‘i’m fortunate’ to be excused from that, what neon’s ‘longlegs,’ a24’s ‘civil war’ demonstrate about indie distribution power, jonathan majors ‘heartbroken’ over robert downey jr.’s doctor doom replacing kang in next ‘avengers’ films; he’d still return to mcu ‘if that’s what marvel wants’, more from our brands, ‘the traitors’ renewed for seasons 4 and 5 with alan cummings as host, this new coffee table book celebrates hollywood’s most stylish eras, nfl’s bucs rejected record $6 billion-plus to sell team, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, the secret lives of mormon wives include #momtok, drinking and ‘soft swinging’ — watch hulu trailer.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• 78% Cuckoo Link to Cuckoo
• 97% Dìdi Link to Dìdi
• 97% Good One Link to Good One

New TV Tonight

• 95% Industry: Season 3
• 93% Bad Monkey: Season 1
• 100% Solar Opposites: Season 5
• -- Emily in Paris: Season 4
• -- Bel-Air: Season 3
• -- Rick and Morty: The Anime: Season 1
• -- SEAL Team: Season 7
• -- RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars: Season 1
• -- Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures: Season 2
• -- Worst Ex Ever: Season 1

Most Popular TV on RT

• 59% The Umbrella Academy: Season 4
• 81% A Good Girl's Guide to Murder: Season 1
• 78% Star Wars: The Acolyte: Season 1
• 95% Batman: Caped Crusader: Season 1
• 100% Supacell: Season 1
• 100% Women in Blue: Season 1
• 80% Mr. Throwback: Season 1
• 78% Presumed Innocent: Season 1
• 77% Lady in the Lake: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• 95% Industry: Season 3 Link to Industry: Season 3
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

All Alien Movies In Order: How to Watch Chronologically

30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

The Freakier Friday Cast on New Music, Filming the Iconic Scream Scene, and More

Weekend Box Office: Deadpool & Wolverine Crosses $1 Billion

• Trending on RT
• Video Game Movies
• Best Movies of 2024
• Re-Release Calendar
• TV Premiere Dates

Fatima Reviews

Fatima explores the concept of faith and doubt, without sensationalism.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 23, 2022

The core of this new production, of evident Catholic roots, is that of always, the emotional, and destined to the already convinced, to the believer... [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Jun 1, 2022

The visions arrive in a bright light as part of nature out of the breezes that move the trees, though there also is a CGI sequence of hell.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 1, 2021

At under two hours it's not a long film, yet it feels as though your faith is being tested at every turn.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 28, 2021

Pontecorvo seems particularly interested in conveying the gravitas of Lúcia's spiritual burden, which is anchored by Gil, who is full of quiet intensity and impressive conviction.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 28, 2021

Fatima raises some intriguing questions about faith but sadly fails to make us believe in anything more comforting than the climate of fear, distrust and grief that flourishes during wartime.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 25, 2021

A film that, in stark contrast to most faith-based fodder, is gorgeously shot and designed.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 25, 2021

Difficult to remain engaged, despite a talented cast.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 24, 2021

Pontecorvo shoots the film radiantly - including a quick CGI excursion to hell - but there is something spiritually complacent about his slickness.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 22, 2021

Uneven performances and a dawdling, clunky script mute the impact

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 24, 2021

You'll either be inspired, or inspired to giggle a little.

Full Review | Feb 16, 2021

A wondrous and soul-enriching faith-based movie, the kind which the world needs right now.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 13, 2020

An attempt at an interesting political affray that ends in an illusion. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 12, 2020

"Fatima" is a gorgeous film with inccredible performances by all cast members. The beautiful, majestic voice of Andrea Bocelli sets a spiritual and haunting tone of the film.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 12, 2020

Sure to be adored by religious types despite its faults, this tries to maintain a wary and neutral tone... But, as a wise man once said, you've got to have faith. You've gotta have faith...

Full Review | Sep 11, 2020

If you are a believer, then just as with that wall in Apia, you will quite possibly see in Fatima a beauty and truth that I was blind to. And that is truly just fine.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 10, 2020

The film may be of interest for the devout, but otherwise it's a plodding meander that tells of a slightly intriguing footnote of early 20th century history.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 10, 2020

Even for a confirmed sceptic, conviction can be addictive.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 5, 2020

An old-fashioned but very beautiful film.

Full Review | Sep 5, 2020

"The reverential film will not change the minds of either believers or doubters.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Sep 5, 2020

Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

• DVD & Streaming

Content Caution

In Theaters

• Stephanie Gil as Lúcia dos Santos; Lúcia Moniz as Maria Rosa; Marco D'Almeida as António; Goran Visnjic as Arturo; Alejandra Howard as Jacinta Marto; Jorge Lamelas as Francisco Marto; Joaquim de Almeida as Father Ferreira; Joana Ribeiro as the Virgin Mary; Sônia Braga as Sister Lúcia; Harvey Keitel as Professor Nichols

Home Release Date

• August 28, 2020
• Marco Pontecorvo

Distributor

• Universal Pictures

Movie Review

The strangest things happen to shepherds.

Moses was tending some sheep when he ran across a burning bush. David was taking some time away from his father’s sheep when he fought Goliath. We won’t even bother to remind you about those shepherds near Bethlehem and what they saw: a bevy of Christmas carols will do that for us.

And then we come to the pint-size shepherds of Fatima, Portugal, on May 13, 1917.

Ten-year-old Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, weren’t looking for divine revelation. They were surprised as anyone when that beautiful woman appeared out of nowhere as they were herding their parents’ sheep.

“I came from heaven,” the strange woman tells them (though Francisco can’t hear her). She asks them to pray the Rosary every day and instructs them to come back to come back to that very spot on the 13 th of every month for the next six months. “The world needs peace,” the woman tells them.

She’s right.

The globe had been engulfed by war for three years by then—a war unlike any ever seen before. Men were being mangled by the millions. And even in countries such as Portugal—technically far away from the fighting—the misery is staggering. More than 12,000 Portuguese citizens die fighting for the Allies during World War I. About 82,000 civilians die from foot shortages.

The mysterious woman never asked for a wider audience. But telling 7-year-old Jacinta to keep a secret is like telling the tide to stay in. Word quickly hits the Santos family. That evening, Lúcia’s pious mother, Maria, confronts Lúcia and her crazy story. “Why would the mother of God choose you , of all people?” she demands.

Maria’s hardly alone in her skepticism. Marto, Fatima’s mayor, is determined to stamp out “religious superstition” wherever he finds it, even if it shows up in three little kids. The town’s priest, Father Ferreira, suspects that someone was playing a trick on Lúcia and her friends—or, more darkly, that the devil paid her a visit to mislead. Many townspeople, grieving over their own war dead and seeing precious little evidence of a loving God, think the kids are conniving brats making up tales.

But Lúcia and her cousins stick to their story. And, as the number of pilgrims traveling to Fatima grows, it’s clear that plenty of other people want to believe, too.

Positive Elements

Fatima is based on what its believers would call honest-to-goodness miraculous happenings. Though adherents from some Christian traditions might ask questions about this decidedly Catholic miracle, it’s clear that faith becomes the catalyst for some strong character shaping in this story.

Lúcia stands at the center, and she’s understandably bothered when this beautiful vision of the Mother Mary spawns some not-so-beautiful aftershocks. She and her family are belittled by those who don’t believe in the visions. Pilgrims trample the family’s crops, forcing Lúcia’s father to ship their oldest daughter off as a maid and even sell the family’s sheep. The controversy surrounding the children’s visions worry the local government so much that the Mayor shutters the town’s church. Maria even worries that Lúcia’s visions are putting her soldier son at risk. And Lúcia herself wonders why the woman—whom she believes to be the Virgin Mary—refuses to alleviate the suffering she sees.

“I beg you!” she says, half praying, half shouting. “I don’t want other people suffering!” And in an effort to bring about healing for others, she tries to increase her own suffering instead.

But Lúcia never recants. She knows what she saw. She knows what she’s being asked to do. And she’s determined to see the thing through, showing courage and fortitude as she does so.

Lúcia’s father, Antonio, is a tolerant, kind-hearted man. When Lúcia asks him whether he believes her, Antonio truthfully says, “I don’t know.” But he adds, “I know I’ll never leave you.”

And while Maria, Lúcia’s mother, says some pretty hurtful things in the movie (and some suggest that Lúcia’s visions were an effort to earn her distracted mother’s attention), we’re also witness to her kind heart. She’s well known, we’re told, for helping the sick and poor. And she does love all of her children—even when she’s frustrated and believes that one of them is lying to her.

Spiritual Elements

It’s hard to think of an element of this film that isn’t spiritual, to be honest. Faith is woven into every scene and every bit of dialogue. As noted above, this is a very Catholic story, too, so elements won’t necessarily translate with some Christian viewers from different spiritual traditions.

Mary is quite insistent that her young seers follow Catholic rituals in order to curb God’s wrath and perhaps to bring peace to the world. She insists (as mentioned) that the children pray with their Rosaries, and we hear several recitations of the Catholic “Hail Mary” prayer.

Mary says she’s offering these visions for “the conversion of sinners and to amend the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.” (That phrase, Immaculate Heart of Mary , comes up often, both in the movie and in the real history of Fatima.) She calls herself the “Lady of the Rosary” at one point, and she says that she is “going to lead them to my Son through peace and love.” (Perhaps, given the emphasis on Rosaries, we should not be surprised to find enterprising capitalists selling Rosaries to the pilgrims who gather, like baseball vendors selling hot dogs.)

The core story is told in flashback, as a secular professor and author interviews Lúcia (who’s since become a nun) in 1989. He asks her about the Catholic and cultural specificity of her childhood visions. Why do religious visions (he asks) always seem to conform to a given culture’s pop iconography and traditions? Could it be that the seers simply translate religious zeal into visions they’re most familiar with?

“You call it the unconscious,” the nun Lúcia says. “I call it God who, in his infinite wisdom, manifests Himself in a form that we expect, in order to help us understand better.”

The professor (who has written that “all seers are de facto unstable”) isn’t the only skeptic. Plenty of people here probe the mysteries and apparent inconsistencies of faith. The Mayor (a stand-in for Portugal’s relatively new anti-clerical government) belittles religion and trumpets the sacrifices of Portugal’s soldiers on strictly secular terms. “They defend our progressive ideas that will free our country from a feudal past created by ignorance and religious superstitions!” he says. (His wife, on the other hand, is deeply religious, and she’s not afraid to tell her husband so.)

As mentioned, Father Ferreira cautions that the children’s visions could stem from a more infernal source. People debate over stigmata and puzzle over the role of suffering in God’s handiwork. And some are too grief-stricken to believe at all anymore.

“I lost my son, and the Holy Mother did nothing,” one woman scolds Lúcia. “She let him die like a dog, far from home. I don’t believe anymore. I don’t believe anything.”

We see visions and miracles, too—but even miracles are questioned. When a boy who had been paralyzed from the waist down takes some weak, supported steps during a monthly gathering around the makeshift shrine, it’s hailed by believers as a miracle. Marto, the mayor, believes he knows differently: He had carried the boy to the hospital when he fell, and he’d heard that the lad might one day walk again if he put all his effort into it. He says it was no act of faith. But his wife disagrees.

“If he found the strength to walk today , out of all days—to walk in that specific place—then it’s all down to his faith,” she says.

Maria is a woman of deep faith, and she constantly prays out deals with God—promising to work “much harder for the Church” if God will protect her son on the front lines. She fosters self-denying devotion in her daughters, too, forbidding Lúcia from dancing and telling her that “a little hunger is good for the soul.”

We see lots of religious iconography, of course, and hear countless prayers. We also see some of the children’s mysterious visions, including one where they visit a very Dante-esque version of hell and see visions from a disturbing future (unless, of course, the world repents of its sins). Before Mary comes to visit the children, Lúcia is apparently visited by the “Angel of Peace,” who plants visions of the war in Lúcia’s brain (including one of her brother getting injured).

Sexual Content

Maria and Antonio remove their outer garments before going to bed, and we see Maria in some modest, period-appropriate underwear (including what appears to be a corset).

Violent Content

Some of the children’s visions are very violent. One depicts priests and other believers climbing a hill, but once they reach the summit, they’re bloodily gunned down by soldiers. Visions of war include bloodied, obviously dead and sometimes limbless bodies. War imagery appears—sometimes dreamlike, sometimes all-too-real. The vision of hell, of course, is deeply disturbing, and features someone apparently being roasted on a grill above a roaring cavity of fire.

Mary tells the children that Jacinta and Francisco will be going to heaven “very soon,” and Lúcia has a vision of their joint funeral. (The two cousins died about a year after the events of the movie—victims of the flu pandemic that followed swiftly on the heels of World War I.) Lúcia worries over her mother’s cough; at one point the woman seems seriously ill and on the verge of death. Some war veterans come home with bandages on their head or arms. Francisco, we learned, threw rocks at some other boys (for which the Virgin Mary is a bit displeased), but he insists the boys had beat him up first. Mary bleeds from what appear to be thorns in her chest. An apparent miracle takes a terrifying turn.

Crude or Profane Language

Drug and alcohol content.

Mayor Marto, after joking with some townsfolk and making sure that their Lenten fasting is done, calls for “a round of drinks for everyone.” We see some wine being served with dinner.

Other Negative Elements

Lúcia disobeys her mother and other authority figures, albeit in order to follow the instructions of the Virgin Mary. The mayor tries to figure out a way to have the children’s visions discredited and, ideally, to have the children themselves committed to an insane asylum.

Fatima , the movie, takes its miracles seriously. It’s based on happenings that took place near this Portuguese city in 1917 which culminate with “The Miracle of the Sun.” (I won’t spoil the actual miracle, but there’s plenty of information online if you want to spoil it for yourself.) Though it stars some familiar actors and is distributed by a secular movie studio, this is as sincere a spiritual exercise as you’re likely to find in theaters today.

But we can’t stop there: Because of its overt religiosity, Fatima is, paradoxically, a challenging and, for some, even troubling piece of cinema.

Superficially, you can credit some of that to the movie’s overt depiction of Catholic doctrine. For devout Catholics, little of what’s shown here will feel out of place. But for Christians from other traditions, the idea of the Virgin Mary literally bleeding from the heart and telling believers that they need to pray the Rosary in order to curb God’s wrath—even though it’s all consistent with the real Lúcia’s own accounts—can feel a little jarring and perhaps antithetical to their own understanding of faith.

The movie tackles that friction, and I talk about it a bit in the Spiritual Content section. But the fact that Fatima takes on this question so boldly takes us to the film’s next challenge—and I think it’s a good, healthy challenge.

Yes, Fatima takes its faith seriously. The movie insists that the reason for our faith is grounded in truth, and that’s a beautiful thing. But instead of gently sidestepping any skepticism or spiritual questions viewers might have, it gives them a place and voice within the story itself.

At its center is one of Christianity’s most vexing questions: If God is so great and so loving, why do people suffer? Does God ask us to suffer? It’s a great question, and one that most every believer must struggle with sooner or later. The film suggests that some suffering is caused by our own sin and disregard for God. But it also acknowledges that much of our suffering is a mystery. It offers no pat answers, no “five steps to a happier you” solutions.

For some believers, this may feel unsatisfying. But for others—and I’d count myself among this group—just the acknowledgment of that mystery, that friction, is gratifying. And, of course, just raising the subject can raise plenty of conversations with fellow moviegoers, too.

Fatima is a well-crafted, very Catholic and (in its own reverent way) quite provocative piece of filmmaking. It reminds us that miracles are real and that, yes, suffering is, too. The film might not resonate with everyone. But for those who can navigate it, it just might lead some to a deeper spiritual encounter of their own.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

Latest Reviews

It Ends with Us

The Fabulous Four

Borderlands

One Fast Move

Weekly reviews straight to your inbox.

Review: ‘Fatima’ scores a point for faith by exploring doubt

“Fatima” is a bit of a high-wire act. A dramatic account of the Marian visitations experienced by three Portuguese peasant children during World War I, it gives both the innocent faithful and the innocently faithless their due. It balances reasonable questions with unassailable faith. And it treats with enormous delicacy what has, for more than 100 years, made the miracle of Fatima fascinating even to those who do not believe in miracles—namely, the “mysteries” or prophesies of the Virgin Mary, related to the children in 1917 and kept secret till 1960.

Although the film travels back and forth between Fatima and 1989 Coimbra—where the aged, cloistered Sister Lúcia (Sonia Braga) is being interviewed by the fictional, skeptical Professor Nichols (Harvey Keitel)—the director Marco Pontecorvo is not interested in portraying a past of faith and a present of doubt. The script by Valerio D’Annunzio, Barbara Nicolosi and Pontecorvo himself (son of director Gillo, of “The Battle for Algiers”) may go slightly overboard in ennobling the peasantry of Fatima. Lúcia’s mother, Maria (Lúcia Moniz), for instance, is saddled with more than her share of rigid dialogue. 

‘Fatima’ gives both the innocent faithful and the innocently faithless their due. 

But the politics are front and center: The country had overthrown its constitutional monarchy only in 1910, and there was a great deal of anticlerical sentiment emanating from Lisbon. Having thousands flock to Fatima to see what official Portugal viewed as a superstitious apparition was not good for anyone, especially a town whose sons were off fighting in a war that had already raged for three years, and whose survival as a community seemed precarious enough.

Young Lúcia—the marvelously expressive Stephanie Gil—is first visited by the Angel of Peace (Ivone Fernandes-Jesus), who conjures up for her visions of the war in which Lúcia’s brother is fighting, and which is characterized as an insult to God. One of the prophecies of the Blessed Virgin (played here by Joana Ribeiro) was that another greater war was to follow if mankind did not correct its ways—World War II being the obvious conclusions to draw from the secrets, as revealed. 

Venturing into the kind of territory where “Fatima” dwells involves risk, and a certain amount of risk avoidance.

Whether the Vatican has ever disclosed the secrets fully is a subject of debate, but “Fatima,” by way of the visions visited upon the children, alludes to the atomic bomb, an apocalyptic hellscape and a papal assassination. The attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II in 1981 has been seen by some as a fulfillment of that particular prophesy, but it isn’t a question that comes up during Professor Nichols’s interrogation of Sister Lúcia.

What does come up, however, makes for the most interesting moments of the film—much if which is otherwise devoted to the sufferings of little Lúcia, Jacinto and Francisco (Alejandra Howard and Jorge Lamelas, both wonderful) as they try and often fail to convince the townspeople of what they have seen. What Professor Nichols wants to know from the implacable Sister Lúcia concerns the ontology of miracles: Why, he asks, do divine apparitions always conform to the iconography of the culture in which they appear? They are manifest in a way that people can easily understand, she says. (To the film’s credit, both Ms. Fernandes-Jesus and Ms. Ribeiro could pass for Aramaic.) 

Why, Nichols continues, would stigmata appear on the palms of the hands when it is well known that Roman crucifixion involved the binding of the wrists? Sister Lúcia has no answer to offer. There is no answer. As was the case with the locals in Fatima who chose not to believe, nothing she says will ever convince Nichols of what happened to her and Jacinta, who were the only ones who could see and hear the Virgin, and Francisco, who could only see her. But by entertaining—and frustrating—doubt, Lúcia scores a point for faith.

Venturing into the kind of territory where “Fatima” dwells involves risk, and a certain amount of risk avoidance. Portraying the visions of the three children in purely visual terms allows Pontecorvo to include any number of possibilities within the mysteries of Fatima. By casting as the Blessed Virgin an actress like Ribeiro—very beautiful, but ethnically ambiguous—he invites no arguments. And by acknowledging the humanity of the humans who have so arguably offended God, he keeps them human, and thus part of a moral argument—notably, against the causes of fascism and communism, both of which were about to bloom in 1917 and found their own reasons to dismiss the events at Fatima. 

Whether intended or not , there is even a capitalism joke toward the end of the film. A little boy has been regularly selling rosaries at the site of the visitations (“Rosaries, six cents!). When Jacinta announces to the crowd that the Virgin has identified herself as “The Lady of the Rosary,” the little salesman adjusts accordingly: “Rosaries, now 10 cents!” Like the faceoff between Nichols and Lúcia, it is a welcome moment of something close to mirth in a movie that takes its subject very seriously.

John Anderson is a television critic for The Wall Street Journal and a contributor to The New York Times.

Most popular

Your source for jobs, books, retreats, and much more.

The latest from america

Review: Children in a time of war see an apparition of peace in ‘Fatima’

• Copy Link URL Copied!

The Los Angeles Times is committed to reviewing new theatrical film releases during the COVID-19 pandemic . Because moviegoing carries inherent risks during this time, we remind readers to follow health and safety guidelines as outlined by the CDC and local health officials. We will continue to note the various ways readers can see each new film, including drive-in theaters in the Southland and VOD/streaming options when available.

“Fatima” chronicles mystical events leading to what believers call “ the Miracle of the Sun ” in October 1917, in Fátima, Portugal. The film follows three young shepherd children — principally 9-year-old Lúcia (Stephanie Gil) — who see a holy apparition on a monthly basis. Trouble ensues when word gets out.

Desperate villagers then expect their sick loved ones to be healed, or those who are soldiers to be spared (in World War I). When these miracles-on-demand aren’t granted, some turn on the kids. There’s pressure on the kids, from family, church and state, to admit they made it up.

The smiling apparition (Joana Ribeiro) makes promises: The war will end soon; a sick child “will heal if he starts believing.” It proselytizes: People must pray more; bigger wars are “what will happen if sinners do not convert.” Eventually, 70,000 come to witness the kids commune with the spirit only they see, and the “miracle” occurs.

Harvey Keitel shows up as a skeptical professor in the 1980s questioning the elderly Lúcia (Sonia Braga), but there’s no tension as to what he’ll find. In the movie, these things definitely happened. To its credit, the professor asks good questions. To its detriment, neither the film nor elder Lúcia seem to care.

Director Marco Pontecorvo was a cinematographer on HBO’s most lush and epic series, “Rome” and “Game of Thrones.” “Fatima” is prettily shot but realized with little unique expression. Emotional moments are flat. Visual effects conveying miracles are unremarkable, including in the climax. The music is what you’d expect, with a song performed by Andrea Bocelli.

A clip from “Fatima” (2020).

There are other familiar faces: Joaquim de Almeida as the local priest; Goran Visnjic as the mayor. But this isn’t an acting showcase. There are dramatic situations, sure. Visnjic’s mayor must regularly read out the names of villagers reported killed or missing in the war as families hope not to hear their loved ones mentioned. A family’s crops are unnecessarily destroyed. A daughter feels unloved by her mother. But these emotional arrows don’t find their targets. They’re played as a pageant, more described than felt. Even when we learn two young characters will die, the moment is passed over.

The notable exception is Marco d’Almeida’s performance as Lúcia’s father; he sympathetically tries to balance the needs of his family while coping with catastrophes. But the conversation between the professor and elderly Lúcia goes nowhere. It abruptly drops — an odd narrative choice, making us feel that it didn’t matter.

And in the eyes of believers, it likely doesn’t.

The film’s relevance probably depends on the viewer’s beliefs. The devout might take it as proof of divinity: A Portuguese bishop declared the visions “ worthy of belief ”; some involved were sainted. Skeptics might entertain other explanations for “the Miracle of the Sun .” In a pandemic, some might call the film a beacon of hope; others might prefer science to prayer for salvation. As a piece of cinema, though, “Fatima” is unlikely to be canonized.

'Fatima'

Rating: PG-13 for some strong violence and disturbing images Running Time: 1 hour, 53 minutes Playing: Available Aug. 28 on PVOD; and in general release where theaters are open

More to Read

Review: ‘Kidnapped: The Abduction of Edgardo Mortara’ is a harrowing interfaith showdown

May 31, 2024

Opinion: ‘Oppenheimer’s’ best performance — reminding us that we live in dangerous times

March 6, 2024

Review: In ‘Ordinary Angels,’ a real-life miracle becomes one woman’s redemption

Feb. 23, 2024

Only good movies

Get the Indie Focus newsletter, Mark Olsen's weekly guide to the world of cinema.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

Michael Ordoña covered film and television for the Los Angeles Times.

More From the Los Angeles Times

Hollywood Inc.

Paramount shutters television studio, begins major layoffs ahead of Skydance merger

Aug. 13, 2024

‘It Ends With Us’ movie banned in Qatar for kissing scenes

Aug. 12, 2024

Why Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds both can declare box office victory

Aug. 11, 2024

At D23, Disney puts its box office hopes on animated sequels and Baby Yoda

Aug. 10, 2024

Fatima Review

25 Jun 2021

Can a child’s faith be trusted? In this drama based on a true story, Sônia Braga plays an ageing nun who believes she was visited by the Virgin Mary as a young girl during World War I, when she was living in Fátima, in rural Portugal. Church and state condemned her testimony and that of her two cousins, although thousands of believers gathered near her home, praying for their own miracle. Accordingly there was a substantial crowd for the so-called Miracle Of The Sun, a solar display that has since been explained as everything from a celestial sign to a symptom of collective eye-strain.

The tone of this film is far too respectful to do justice to Lucia’s story.

Fatima is directed by Marco Pontecorvo (son of Gillo ‘ The Battle Of Algiers ’ Pontecorvo), whose background is primarily in cinematography, with a handful of directing credits. His cast is international, though the film is in English. Lucia recalls her childhood visions in an interview with a sceptical academic ( Harvey Keitel ). There are flashpoints of disagreements between the two, but the privacy screen dividing the two actors seems to impede their conversation drastically. And naturally, their dialogue is interrupted by flashbacks.

It’s the events of 1917, rendered in a wishy-washy sepia palette, that make up the bulk of this sombre film, which paints over its most intriguing ideas with a thick coat of gloss. Anglo-Spanish actress Stephanie Gil plays Lucia as an earnest ten-year-old shepherd, illiterate and God-fearing, while Goran Višnjić is unexpectedly sympathetic as the hostile mayor. The tone of this film is far too respectful to do justice to Lucia’s story. Her visions, including one of hell, are presented as fact, and sadly the film is sentimentally attached to the idea of their veracity. Her visions may have provided solace during a difficult time, but this film would be more engaging if it opened itself to a little nagging doubt.

• Become a Critical Movie Critic
• Movie Review Archives

Movie Review: Fatima (2020)

• Howard Schumann
• Movie Reviews
• No responses
• --> September 7, 2020

“And a little child shall lead them” — Isaiah 1:16

On May 13, 1917, three children, 10-year-old Lúcia (Stephanie Gil, “ Terminator: Dark Fate ”) and her younger cousins Francisco (Jorge Lamelas) and Jacinta (Alejandra Howard, “Cleo” TV series) were tending their family’s flock of sheep at the Cova da Iria, the family pastureland in the Portuguese village of Aljustrel on the outskirts of Fátima, when they had a striking vision of a Lady (Joana Ribiero, “ The Man Who Killed Don Quixote ”) dressed in white near a small oak tree. Claiming that she came from heaven, she asks the children to return to the same place on the thirteenth day of each month for the next five months, promising that a miracle would be performed that will convince the people of the village of her appearance and receive her message of peace. She also gives the children personal messages that could only be revealed later.

Written by Barbara Nicolosi, Valerio D’Annunzio and Marco Pontecorvo and taken from Lúcia’s memoirs, Fatima , directed by Pontecorvo (“Partly Cloudy with Sunny Spells”), son of director Gillo Pontecorvo (“The Battle of Algiers”), peeks beyond the boundaries of the known in his retelling of the fact-based 1917 sighting of the Lady identified as the Virgin Mary, first brought to the screen in 1952 in “The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima.” The present story is told from the point of view of the three young children, especially that of Lúcia who bears the main task of convincing the community of the authenticity of her visions.

The film is book-ended by a fictional conversation held at the Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal in 1989 between a now elderly Sister Lúcia (Sônia Braga, “ Bacurau ”) and Professor Nichols (Harvey Keitel, “ The Irishman ”), a skeptical Professor of Religion. Though the flashbacks attempt to put the visions in a modern day context, the experience of the children unfolds in real time and they deliver performances that are real and beautifully realized, especially that of Gil whose beatific smile is enough to convince us of her divine revelation. According to Pontecorvo, “Lúcia, for me, is . . . someone that can see beyond and can get in touch with another level in a way that not all of us have the possibility of doing.”

Unlike many Hollywood films in which spiritual events are artificially enhanced by CGI effects and heavenly sounding music to create a “spiritual feeling,” Pontecorvo’s depiction of the Lady is of a real woman who walks barefoot on the mud, not a fuzzy image floating in the air. Filmed entirely in Portugal by cinematographer Vincenzo Carpineta (“Let’s Talk”), Fatima creates a striking sense of place and time. It is the time of World War I and a weary world prays for peace. The villagers gather daily in the town square to listen as mayor Artur Santos (Goran Visnjic, “ The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ”) reads the names of local soldiers who have been declared dead or missing. Lúcia’s family hopefully await news from the front about Lúcia’s brother Manuel (Elmano Sancho, “The Black Book”). People struggling with the loss of a loved one receive little comfort, however, from a hardline anti-clerical government.

As Lúcia struggles to overcome the disbelief of her mother, Maria Rosa (Lúcia Moniz, “Hero on the Front”) and her father Antonio (Marco D’Almeida, “Night Train to Lisbon”), she must also deal with the outright hostility of the mayor, the local pastor Father Ferreira (Joaquim de Almeida, “ The Hitman’s Bodyguard ”), and the bishop (João D’Ávila, “The Easy Way”). During one of Mary’s visits at Fátima, the children experience a vision of Hell with all its accompanying charms such as an ocean of fire, devils, and shrieking souls, but the Lady tells them that her visit was a way of saving the tormented souls in Hell. Despite the children’s belief in what they had seen, they are pressured by her parents, the church, and the secular officials to recant and admit their story was just a made-up game.

On October 13th, however, a perceived miracle took place before an estimated 50,000 people who testified that the midday sun suddenly appeared like a silver disk, then began “to rotate, dance, and whirl like a pinwheel.” Wobbling across the sky, it plunged towards the earth as people screamed and looked for a place to hide and then sighed in relief and amazement as the sun re-ascended towards its rightful position in the sky. Today, the basilica of Our Lady of Fatima stands near the Cova da Iria as the Lady requested and draws thousands of visitors each year. In 2017 Pope Francis canonized Francisco and Jacinta, both of whom died in the flu epidemic of 1918, while Lúcia’s canonization is still pending.

Fatima is a lovely film that, unlike previous versions of the story, explores the inner life of the characters and portrays the Marian visits without being preachy. What the visions represent is beyond the scope of this review, yet, as Anne Baring says in her book, “The Dream of the Cosmos,” “the passionate longing of the human heart has always been to press beyond the boundaries of the known, to break through the limitations of our understanding, to extend the horizon of awareness.”

Marian apparitions as well as other visions of the “Divine Feminine,” according to a Newsweek magazine article in 1997 article, have numbered at least four hundred in the twentieth century alone and have been reported from antiquity down into modern times at times appearing as Isis, Kali, Durga, and Ishtar as well as the Virgin Mary. Fatima challenges our normal consensus view of reality and strives to evoke in us a renewed sense of mystery regardless of our religious or secular beliefs. Allowing us to see the world through a broader lens, it points us towards a new connection with the cosmos.

Tagged: children , church , diary , miracle , religion , true story , visions

I am a retired father of two living with my wife in Vancouver, B.C. who has had a lifelong interest in the arts.

Movie Review: Hit the Road (2021) Movie Review: Happening (2021) Movie Review: Playground (2021) Movie Review: The Power of the Dog (2021) Movie Review: After Yang (2021) Movie Review: The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) Movie Review: The Worst Person in the World (2021)

'Movie Review: Fatima (2020)' has no comments

Privacy Policy | About Us

 |  Log in

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Get the app
• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

How to Prepare Your Kids for School After a Summer of Screen Time

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Multicultural Books

YouTube Channels with Diverse Representations

Podcasts with Diverse Characters and Stories

Common sense media reviewers.

Faith drama based on true story has some war imagery.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Positive messages about the power of faith. Two pe

The children demonstrate integrity. They continue

War imagery displayed through a grainy filter, inc

Parents need to know that Fatima is a drama about a 1917 religious event referred to as "The Miracle of the Sun." Three children, ages 7 to 10, report that the Virgin Mary has appeared to them, asking them to deliver her message that World War I will end if people pray and "suffer greatly." Despite intense…

Positive Messages

Positive messages about the power of faith. Two people discuss their opposing views and outlooks by treating each other with respect and finding common ground.

Positive Role Models

The children demonstrate integrity . They continue to tell the truth, despite intense pressure from family, community, and authority to recant.

Violence & Scariness

War imagery displayed through a grainy filter, including bombings and soldier on battlefield whose limbs have been blown off. People shot at close range. Children are frightened while witnessing the pits of hell. A child is slapped, smacked several times by a parent. A child is told by angelic icon that she must suffer to help others, is shown harming herself a couple of times.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Fatima is a drama about a 1917 religious event referred to as "The Miracle of the Sun." Three children, ages 7 to 10, report that the Virgin Mary has appeared to them, asking them to deliver her message that World War I will end if people pray and "suffer greatly." Despite intense pressure by those in positions of power to change their story, the children demonstrate real integrity and continue to tell the truth. In an attempt to fulfill the need to "suffer," the oldest child, Lucia (Stephanie Gil), is shown harming herself in a couple of non-life-threatening ways. Angels share violent visions with the children, including flashes of gruesome battle scenes, priests being shot, and images of the fiery depths of hell. The timeline jumps between 1917 and 1989, when a skeptical professor is interviewing Lucia -- now an elderly nun -- about the events (and asking the questions that secular viewers might have). Even though the story is about children, it probably won't be terribly interesting to them. The film's value is more in understanding the circumstances around a modern-day miracle and what it takes to be granted sainthood. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (4)
• Kids say (1)

Based on 4 parent reviews

What is told here is not based on truth.

Great movie with a must needed message, what's the story.

In FATIMA, in the spring of 1917, an angel of peace appears to 10-year-old Lucia (Stephanie Gil) outside the parish of Fátima, Portugal. A short time later, another heavenly creature appears to Lucia and her two cousins and asks that they deliver a message of how they can bring an end to World War I. The children quickly find themselves in the middle of a firestorm between church and government officials who pressure them to recant and pilgrims who want to share in the experience.

Is It Any Good?

Marco Pontecorvo's first English-language feature as a director won't make the angels sing, but it's everything you'd expect from a longtime cinematographer: It's beautifully shot. Dark caves, dingy homes, and drab clothing are made more dynamic, while angelic beings and the purity of children's faces shine bright. The gorgeous photography in Fatima shifts your brain's expectations: This isn't what we've come to expect from the typical low-budget faith-based film. Rather, this is a big production about characters of faith. For those (still) waiting for the moment when stories of faith really go mainstream, this is a step in that direction.

Unfortunately, the script doesn't carry an emotional impact and, therefore, doesn't engage viewers in what should be an earth-shattering tale. By the time we get to the miracle, it's frankly underwhelming. The audience most likely to be singing the movie's praises will be adults seeking insight -- and, of course, those of faith. To parents hoping to show -- not just tell -- their kids that miracles exist or to explain Mariology, this film falls flat. The idea that the Virgin Mary would show children gruesome images of war and a pope being shot in the head, take them on a journey to hell, and tell them that they personally must "suffer greatly" to end a world war and bring home their family members doesn't jibe with most modern-day Christian teachings. Pontecorvo does his best to bring the story to today's audiences by including a more modern-day author who's a skeptic, allowing him to ask a lot of hard questions. But most kids aren't going to be hanging on to find the answer -- they're going to wonder when they can leave the room.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how the children in Fatima demonstrate integrity . How does that character strength help them get through trying times?

How does the movie depict the historic events at its center? How accurate do you think it is? What are the challenges of adapting a fact-based story with supernatural elements for the screen?

How does this film demonstrate the definition of "faith"? Do you agree with it?

Who do you think the movie's intended audience is? Do you think it's for people who already practice a Christian faith, or will it appeal to those of other religions and secular audiences equally?

Do you think there are modern-day miracles -- or tiny miracles that go overlooked? Do you think science and faith can work together, or does it have to be one or the other?

Movie Details

• In theaters : August 28, 2020
• On DVD or streaming : October 27, 2020
• Cast : Alba Baptista , Harvey Keitel , Goran Visnjic
• Director : Marco Pontecorvo
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Latino actors
• Studio : Picturehouse
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Great Girl Role Models
• Character Strengths : Integrity
• Run time : 113 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : some strong violence and disturbing images
• Last updated : February 18, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

Heaven Is for Real

Hacksaw Ridge

Breakthrough

The Two Popes

Faith-based movies, best biblical movies, related topics.

• Great Girl Role Models

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

| French | German | Italian | Slovak | Spanish | Portuguese

• The Vatican Thing
• Synod on the Amazon 2019
• Vatican Abuse Summit
• Synod Reports
• Family Meetings
• Biological Extinction 2017
• Consistory Chronicle 2016
• Papal Visit 2015
• Canonization File 2014
• Daily Conclave Report 2013
• TCT Courses
•  Subscribe

RECENT COLUMNS

• » The Importance of Knowing Reality Joseph R. Wood
• » Rearranging the Deck Chairs Francis X. Maier
• » The Path to Rome Robert Royal
• » Where Have All the Neighbors Gone? Anthony Esolen
• » Of Priests and Politics Rev. Peter M.J. Stravinskas
• » Archbishop Georg Gänswein declares loyalty to Pope Francis after banishment from Rome
• » Assisted suicide spiking in Canada
• » Lebanese patriarch beatified as political tensions rise
• » Memo to the Paris Olympics: France owes everything to Christianity
• » A new American monument is a masterpiece
• » How to stay Catholic in college

More Commentary

• » To God, the Father
• » The Assumption (An Answer)
• » On the Glorious Assumption of Our Blessed Lady

More Notables

Scott Hahn: The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Sacred Spaces

Timelapse: Notre-Dame de Paris scaffolding is removed

True Beauty

First Vespers for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Books Received

“FATIMA”: a Review

The time has probably passed when films about faithful Catholics could be box-office hits, but Italian director Marco Pontecorvo has given his best to make one with Fatima .

This iteration of the story of the Marian apparitions scans almost as a remake of 1952’s The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima , except for a flash-forward device involving a purported interview of the now elderly Sister Lúcia dos Santos by a noted journalist. The two are played by Brazilian actress Sônia Braga and the American Harvey Keitel: the saint and the skeptic.

It’s not a bad idea exactly, although their periodic exchanges, happening in the “present,” tend towards didacticism and do nothing to affect our sense of events in Portugal in 1917.

Those events, on the other hand, are beautifully shown in Fatima . Mr. Pontecorvo, who began his career as a cinematographer, has here collaborated with cameraman Vincenzo Carpineta to give us a very vivid Aljustrel, Lúcia’s hometown just outside of Fátima. (The film was shot entirely in Portugal.)

The story is the story we know: the 10-year-old Lúcia (played by Stephanie Gil) sees an angel, who hints at what’s to come. Then Lúcia and her cousins Jacinta Marta (Alejandra Howard) and Francisco Marta (Jorge Lamelas), who were 7 and 9 respectively, are visited by a beautiful woman “from heaven,” who is, of course, the Blessed Virgin (Joana Ribeiro). This is wonderful.

Not wonderful are the reactions of Lúcia’s parents, her mother especially (superbly portrayed by Portuguese actress Lúcia Moniz), and of Fátima’s secular officials, leading at one point to the actual imprisonment of the children. The top local official is played with sinister efficiency by Goran Višnjić.

One aspect of this extraordinary story that may be taken as proof of its authenticity is the children’s persistence. Before the last visitation and under pressure at home and from the authorities, secular and religious, Lúcia crawls on her knees to the makeshift shrine put up by those who believe the children. Lúcia abases herself, hoping to make everything right. To be worthy of the Lady’s promises.

Mr. Pontecorvo deftly illuminates the three secrets Mary gave the children.

The first, a vision of Hell, is portrayed vividly – Hell that is, not so much the children’s reactions to witnessing it. They seem to take it pretty well. Yet Jacinta and Francisco’s father, who watched the children as they experienced the vision, recalled “that Lúcia gasped in sudden horror, that her face was white as death, and that all who were there heard her cry in terror to the Virgin Mother.”

The second secret, the consecration of Russia to the Virgin’s Immaculate Heart is mentioned. To be fair, there’s not much to show about that.

The third secret, the shooting of a pope and the persecution of clergy, is as dazzling and disturbing as it was prophetic. Questions about the third secret that have arisen since are briefly addressed in one of those flash-forwards to the fictional meeting between Sister Lúcia and the journalist.

Finally, there’s the Miracle of the Sun.

Paul wrote (1COR 15:14) that “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” With regard to the Fatima apparitions, one might paraphrase that by saying that if the sun does not dance, Our Lady’s presence cannot be believed. After all, until the Miracle of the Sun the only actual witnesses to the apparitions were the three children.

The stratagem of the conversations between Mr. Keitel and Ms. Braga is interesting. Among the film’s actors, they are the biggest stars, and to an extent they’re wasted in such a static presentation: two individuals seated on opposite sides of a convent screen engaging in a restrained Q&A. There’s simply no tension: no chance that Sister Lúcia will suddenly burst into tears and admit that she and her cousins made up the whole thing. The writer’s questions to the nun are about what one might expect from a high schooler who won the “Ask Lúcia 20 Questions” contest.

The writer might have asked: “Is it possible that the crowd that day saw the sun dance simply because they stared at it too long?”

Mr. Pontecorvo has the sun seem to descend towards earth, and the crowd reacts with understandable alarm. Actual reports from that day (Saturday, October 13, 1917) indicate that some saw the sun spinning (“in a mad whirl”) or zig-zagging; others saw multicolored lights; a few said they saw nothing unusual.

One fascinating detail not in the film: According to Cardinal Federico Tedeschini, Bishop Eugenio Pacelli – the future Pope Pius XII – actually witnessed the Miracle more than 2,000 miles away in the Vatican Gardens. He’d been consecrated on the very day of Our Lady’s first appearance to the children, and – full circle – he would be buried on the Feast of Our Lady of Fátima in 1958.

One understands why there are skeptics. Still, as Fr. John De Marchi has written (in The True Story of Fátima , which is based on hundreds of interviews of those who were there): “Reports do vary; impressions are in minor details confused, but none to our knowledge has directly denied the visible prodigy of the sun.”

The setup for Mary’s final visit and the Miracle of the Sun is cleverly handled by Mr. Pontecorvo (or screenwriters Valerio D’Annunzio and Barbara Nicolosi). As the children have experienced the apparitions, crowds of onlookers have gathered. growing larger and larger with time. Of course, they only “see” Our Lady through the expressions on the children’s faces and by hearing what the one or another of the kids reports our Lady to have said.

Hawkers of trinkets also appear, one of whom is a boy who sells rosaries for a nickel. In this last visitation, Lúcia has told the Virgin that the people want to know who she is, and she answers that she’s the “Lady of the Rosary.” Jacinta turns to the crowd and repeats the answer, just as that young rosary seller walks by. Now he calls out, “Rosaries, ten cents!”

The inflation of Our Lady of Fátima was just beginning. Now it is priceless.

Because of COVID-19 , the film, which is rated PG-13, has had a tough road to its premiere. The website for the film offers numerous ways to watch at home. It opened “in theaters” on Friday (8/28), although I’m not sure what that means in the midst of the pandemic. In any case, if you click on this link you’ll be able to rent the film at Amazon, Apple TV, YouTube, and a number of other streaming services.

• About the Author
• Latest Articles

Brad Miner is the Senior Editor of The Catholic Thing and a Senior Fellow of the Faith & Reason Institute. He is a former Literary Editor of National Review . His most recent book, Sons of St. Patrick , written with George J. Marlin, is now on sale. His The Compleat Gentleman is now available in a third, revised edition from Regnery Gateway and is also available in an Audible audio edition (read by Bob Souer). Mr. Miner has served as a board member of Aid to the Church In Need USA and also on the Selective Service System draft board in Westchester County, NY.

• Built with Faith, Renovated with Doubt: Notre-Dame de Paris - Saturday, August 3, 2024
• A Cathedral of Text and Gesture - Wednesday, July 24, 2024
• ‘Non possumus’ (Thoughts about ‘Kidnapped’) - Thursday, July 11, 2024
• An Insufficient Truth - Friday, June 21, 2024
• Snippets: Ethan Hawke’s Biopic about Flannery O’Connor - Wednesday, June 12, 2024
• ‘Sacred Service’ at the National WWI Museum - Monday, May 27, 2024
• ‘Keane’ for Rupnik - Tuesday, May 7, 2024
• Holy Days of Obligation - Sunday, April 21, 2024
• ‘The Taking of Christ’ by Caravaggio - Wednesday, April 3, 2024
• Weltanschauungen: Reflections on ‘Freud’s Last Session’ - Tuesday, February 27, 2024

The Catholic Thing Daily Email

Receive columns each morning about events in the Church and the world.

• First Name *
• Last Name *
• The Catholic Thing Daily
• The Catholic Thing Weekly
• Email This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Accidentally unsubscribe? Need to resubscribe? Use this form to get back on the list.

 Join the 50k+ subscribers who receive The Catholic Thing’s daily email

Fátima (2020)

Marco Pontecorvo’s Fátima is the first screen version of the Marian apparitions at Fátima and the “Miracle of the Sun” I’ve seen that feels like the characters are living through the story’s events in the present tense.

That’s more than a little ironic, because it’s also the version that most emphatically places those events in the past, almost but not quite presenting them in flashback from the perspective of an aging Sister Lúcia (Brazilian actress Sônia Braga, Aquarius ) discussing her experiences with a skeptical professor of religion named Nichols (Harvey Keitel) visiting her at the Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1989.

Artistic/Entertainment Value

Moral/spiritual value, age appropriateness, mpaa rating, caveat spectator.

The 2009 art-house indie The 13th Day offered a simpler framing device — Sister Lúcia writing her memoirs — but relied on it more extensively, allowing frequent voice-over narration to carry much of the narrative. The 1991 Portuguese docudrama Apparitions at Fátima ( Aparição or Apparition is the Portuguese title) also relied on voice-over, sometimes clumsily.

Neither film was much interested in dramatizing what motivated the adult figures who become effective or formal antagonists to the three visionary children: Lúcia’s disapproving mother; the skeptical parish priest; the anticlerical mayor. Nor was the classic Hollywood version of the story, the 1952 film The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima , which too obviously tried to emulate the crown jewel of Golden Age Hollywood piety, The Song of Bernadette , without matching its depth of humanity or level of craft.

All of these Fátima films emphasized the turmoil in Europe, and in Portugal in particular, at the moment in 1917 when Our Lady appeared, from the horror of the First World War to the oppression of the Church by Portugal’s hardline secular government.

Only Fátima — written by Barbara Nicolosi, Valerio D’Annunzio and Pontecorvo — captures the sense of life going on at the moment that the three children, 10-year-old Lúcia (Stephanie Gil) and her younger cousins Francisco (Jorge Lamelas) and Jacinta (Alejandra Howard), start to talk about having seen a Lady from heaven at the Cova da Iria , the family pastureland where Lúcia watched her family’s flock of sheep.

Above all, there is the grimly regular ritual of residents of Ourém, the municipality where Lúcia’s village of Aljustrel on the outskirts of Fátima is located, gathering to listen in suspense while the mayor (or civil administrator), Artur Santos (Croatian-American actor Goran Višnjić, Beginners ), reads the latest list of local soldiers who have been declared dead or missing.

The list is alphabetical, so there are sighs of relief when the first name is uttered that comes after the name one is most hoping not to hear — in the case of Lúcia’s family, that of Lúcia’s brother Manuel. (This is one of the film’s more notable fictionalizations; the relative at war was a cousin of Lúcia, not a brother.)

Filming entirely in Portugal, frequent collaborators Pontecorvo and cinematographer Vincenzo Carpineta ( Game of Thrones , Rome ) create rich, atmospheric images with a vivid sense of place, from the medieval town center of Ourém — where, incongruously, the mayor holds forth on the triumph of modern secularism over religious superstition — to the rustic houses of Aljustrel and the rugged beauty of the Cova da Iria . (The scenes in Ourém were filmed in the central Portuguese town of Tomar, which has a picturesque medieval town center with a Renaissance-era church dedicated to John the Baptist. The stone village of Cidadelhe, also known as Piñel, stands in for Aljustrel.)

When the Lady appears, the transcendent nature of the experience is suggested not with luminous special effects or heraldic scoring but with subjective, impressionistic camerawork and editing.

“She was as real as you are,” Lúcia insists to her mother, and, indeed, Portuguese actress Joana Ribiero, serene and benevolent in elegantly simple white garments, walks barefoot on the earth of the Cova as naturalistically as anyone else.

But our glimpses of her are brief and partial — eyes gazing at the children; hands extended to them, holding a rosary; a trickle of blood on her breast — interspersed with the empty space that others see (including, at first, Francisco, who doesn’t immediately see the Lady and later sees her but doesn’t hear her voice when her lips move).

This approach seems to me more evocative than, say, overly familiar computerized glowy effects that we’ve seen in any number of superhero movies over the last decade or so. No cinematic technique, no human art of any kind, can accurately recreate the transcendence of a religious experience, and the most effective religious art has never aspired to representational exactness.

For the first time in any film I’ve seen, Lúcia’s mother, Maria Rosa (Portuguese singer and actress Lúcia Moniz), is a developed character: devout, with some education, loving and wanting what’s best for her daughter, but understandably upset and angry over what she can only conceive as a startling pretense taken too far. A moment in which Maria defiantly faces down disapproving neighbors movingly shows us for the first time the mother suffering with her daughter, rather than being just one more voice against Lúcia.

Artur Santos, the mayor, is cast as a sort of Pilate figure, caught between, on the one hand, pressure from political higher-ups in Lisbon and the consequent need to maintain order and avoid awkward viral religious hysteria and, on the other, the gentle but firm resistance of his Catholic wife, Adelina (Iris Cayatte). (The Santos’ relationship is not entirely unlike that of Pilate and his wife in The Passion of the Christ , and an expression of solidarity between Santos’ wife and the pious protesters recalls Pilate’s wife bringing linens to the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene to wipe Jesus’ blood after the scourging.)

The filmmakers don’t shy from some of the more challenging aspects of the Fátima message, from the emphasis on mortification and the offense given to God by sin to the children’s dreadful visions of war and hell. When Lúcia fears that her brother may have been killed in battle, she spends hours shuffling on her knees in prayer in the Cova , trailed by her respectfully concerned father. (The Lady does tell the children, though, not to keep punishing themselves with ropes tied around their waists.)

As the Lady asked a great deal of the three children, Pontecorvo asks a great deal of his young actors; the film rests on their credibility, as the visionaries’ story rested on theirs.

Pontecorvo seems to have a flair for directing children (first seen in his acclaimed feature debut Pa-Ra-Da ), and Gil as Lúcia especially is thoroughly persuasive both in rapture and in conflicted confusion. Lamelas brings sensitivity to Francisco and Howard charm to Jacinta.

Keitel’s skeptical Professor Nichols is a very rough functional counterpart to Gilbert Roland’s softhearted rogue in The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima , a nonbelieving character meant to serve as a point of entry for non-Catholic viewers.

Perhaps surprisingly, the latter-day segments with Sister Lúcia — which would form a framing story, were it not for a prologue-like opening sequence depicting an early apparition (not of the Virgin Mary but of the Guardian Angel of Portugal) and the somewhat abrupt ending in the immediate aftermath of the “Miracle of the Sun” — wind up being the film’s weakest links.

Keitel and Braga are a pleasure to watch, but Nichols’ line of questioning is too often more sophomoric (or village atheist) than professorial. (If the nails through Christ’s hands would actually have been set in the wrists, does that mean that God deliberately chose the “wrong” location for stigmata?)

If there’s any reason for the latter-day storyline to be set in 1989 — any relevance of the events at Fátima to that moment toward the end of the 20th century, and perhaps by extension any resonance with our own historical moment — it doesn’t come out. (The filmmakers couldn’t have known at the time production wrapped that Fátima would debut in the midst of a global pandemic, eerily resonating with the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic in which young Francisco and Jacinta died shortly after these events.)

Notably, while Nichols questions Sister Lúcia at length on her visionary experiences, they never get around to discussing the widely witnessed Miracle of the Sun — where it might have been her opportunity to cross-examine him .

This lapse not only leaves their dialogue more static than it might have been, it also leaves the “Miracle of the Sun” as the last sequence, without any reflection or perspective except what can be provided by closing titles.

Those issues aside, Fátima is easily the most compelling dramatization of the Fátima story to date and fills a long-felt need in the world of religious cinema. It’s sturdy enough to hold up to periodic rewatchings, for example on May 13, the feast day of Our Lady of Fátima.

Filming Fátima: Interview With Filmmaker Marco Pontecorvo

The cowriter and director of a new film about Our Lady of Fátima talks about why he was drawn to the story and how he tried to realize the miraculous, from a very human Virgin Mary to surreal visions of war and hell.

• Crisis of meaning, part 3: What lies beyond the Spider-Verse?
• Crisis of meaning, part 2: The lie at the end of the MCU multiverse
• Crisis of Meaning on Infinite Earths, part 1: The multiverse and superhero movies
• Two things I wish George Miller had done differently in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
• Furiosa tells the story of a world (almost) without hope

Now Playing

STEPHANIE GIL JOAO ARRAIS SONIA BRAGA IRIS CAYATTE SIMAO CAYATTE CARLA CHAMBEL MARCO D’ALMEIDA JOAO D’AVILA JOAQUIM DE ALMEIDA ALEJANDRA HOWARD HARVEY KEITEL JORGE LAMELAS LUCIA MONIZ JOANA RIBEIRO ELMANO SANCHO GORAN VISNJIC VALERIO D’ANNUNZIO BARBARA NICOLOSI MARCO PONTECORVO STEFANO BUONO ROSE GANGUZZA NATASHA HOWES RICHARD I. LYLES MARCO PONTECORVO JAMES T. VOLK MARCO PONTECORVO DRAMA HISTORY AUS:M UK:NA USA:PG-13 113 MIN             a stirring movie where faith, doubt, and the power of miracles are explored to stirring effect. is released at a time where a miracle is sorely needed in the world. Miracles, in the Judeo-Christian concept of the world, are not an easy thing to come by. Rare and random, they are essentially an antidote to pain and suffering. If you need one, you are in a bad place. It did not get much worse than 1917 Portugal, in the small village of Fatima. With WWI raging across the globe, the town square of Fatima is at a stand still as families await the news of whether their sons, brothers, husbands, or fathers have been killed in battle. Among them is 12-year-old Lucia (Stephanie Gil), the middle child of devout mother Maria Rosa (Lucia Moniz) and her shepherd father Antonio (Marco D’Almedia). One day in the outskirts of town, Lucia, along with her little sister Jacinta (Alejandra Howard), and neighbour Francisco (Jorge Lamelas), encounter an apparition of the Virgin Mary (Joana Ribeiro). What follows is a story about faith and doubt, as word quickly spreads across the village and cynicism is brought forth by disheartened townspeople. Among them is Lucia’s religious mother, and the atheist town mayor Arturo (Goran Visnjic, playing the role with the right amount of simmering contempt), who views religion as nothing more than ignorant superstition. Even the town priest Father Ferreira (Joaquim de Almeida) doubts the claims, as does the Church itself, prioritising its image over the claims of this shepherd’s daughter. Such scepticism from the Church towards such vision and miracles is common, with many supposed supernatural occurrences still to be given the Church’s blessing. It was not until 1930 that the Fatima apparitions was officially recognised by the Holy Sea. Standing tall amongst the doubt and scorn is Lucia. The path of saints and martyrs has long been a lonely one. It is one thing to pray to God. It is another when God, or in this case the Virgin Mary, talks back.  This child, chosen by God to deliver a message embedded within three secrets, sticks to her convictions and her faith that what she has encountered was true and divine. Even years later, when an older Lucia (played by Sonia Braga) is questioned by a well-known sceptic (Harvey Keitel), she will not wane. In this current era of cancer culture and attacks to religion liberty, it is inspirational to watch. Filmed in Portugal, including Fatima itself, is beautiful to look at, with cinematographer Vincenzo Carpinea ( ) capturing the landscape and excellent production design from Crisitiana Ohori to make for a superbly crafted period movie. The performances are also excellent all around, with Stephane Gil especially strong as the face of the movie, portraying a complex character undergoing all matter of spiritual and psychological distress, yet preserving a powerful symbol of faith. Pontecorvo has created a film of rich religious and spiritual power, as well as one with an engrossing human story. Scenes depicting the wonders of Heaven and the horrors of Hell sit comfortably beside rich dramatic sequences where questions of faith and reason are given their due. It all makes for a wondrous and soul-enriching faith-based movie, the kind which the world needs right now.   **** APPROVED CRITIC AT / / Action/Adventure Children's/Family Documentary/Reality Amazon Prime Video More From Decider 'WWHL': Bowen Yang Says One Terrible 'SNL' Host Once Made "Multiple Cast... Peacock's Gary Coleman Doc Questions The Late Child Actor's "Suspicious"... Where Is Kelly Ripa? 'Live' Co-Host Missing From Today's Episode 11 Best New Movies on Netflix: August 2024's Freshest Films to Watch 'Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles' Star Josh Flagg Gives Update On His... Kora's Scars in the 'Rebel Moon: Director's Cut' Sex Scenes Were Sofia... 11 Best New Shows on Netflix: August 2024's Top Upcoming Series to Watch 'RHONJ' Fans Slam Teresa Giudice's "Cruel" Husband Louie Ruelas For... Share this:. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Click to copy URL Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Fatma’ On Netflix, A Thriller About A Cleaning Lady Who Inadvertently Becomes A Serial Killer Where to stream:. Stream It Or Skip It Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Commandant’s Shadow’ on Max, an Extraordinary Documentary About the Lingering Fallout From Auschwitz Stream it or skip it: ‘lobola man’ on netflix, a breezy, easy rom-com from south africa, stream it or skip it: ‘shahmaran’ season 2 on netflix, where the turkish drama brings its mythical battle to the earthly plane , stream it or skip it: ‘watchmen: chapter i’ on vod, a true-to-the-source animated interpretation of a classic comic. TV fans just love seeing unlikely killers, whether they’re meek professional murderers like Bill Hader’s title character in  Barry , or usually-nondescript people who get sucked into the darkness and find a new side of then, like Walter White in  Breaking Bad . There’s just something about seeing people who aren’t stereotypical killers do some damage that makes for good drama. A new Turkish thriller on Netflix goes down that road, only the unlikely killer is a 35 year-old cleaning lady. FATMA : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT? Opening Shot: A woman scratches at a table in an interrogation room. Police detectives come in and show her pictures of people who were killed and ask her if she was familiar with them. When the cop asks what business she has with them, and she says “Cleaning.” The Gist:  Fatma Yılmaz (Burcu Biricik), a seemingly shy woman who cleans people’s homes and offices in Istanbul, is on edge because her husband Zafer ( Ferit Kaya) has gone into hiding after being released from prison. Every time her phone rings, she picks it up thinking it’s him; it may just be him on the other side, but she just hears silence. She goes to a restaurant where some of his associates hang out, but her landlord Ismail (Deniz Hamzaoğlu) warns her off, telling her that everyone knows Zafer and doesn’t want to see him darken their door again. One of the things she needs to do when Zafer returns is tell him that their son, Oğuz (Mustafa Konak), who has special needs, died before the end of Zafer’s prison term. She’s cleaning the office of Zafer’s former boss/gang leader Bayram Karadağ (Yılmaz Ak), whom she thinks knows where Zafer might be. He’s tired of answering her questions about Zafer, but does say that he owes a local thug some money, which might be why he’s hiding. Her warns her, though, that she may not like his response to her questions. She goes back to his office after he leaves and eyes the money and gun in the open safe. Fatma goes to the thug’s office, and, as Bayaram warned, the thug curses her out and suggests that she pimp herself out in order to pay him back. As he gets increasingly menacing, and she sees visions of Oğuz at the window, she whips out the gun she swiped from Bayram and shoots the thug dead. She doesn’t even know what happened. She goes back to Bayaram’s office the next day; word has gotten back to him that the thug got shot and the police are likely looking at him. When she shows him the gun, he’s shocked, but she manages to slip past detectives that visit the office, the gun still in her purse. When she’s called out of her mall cleaning gig to be questioned by police, they barely acknowledge her presence. She’s followed home by another person to whom Zafer owes money; he and Bayram like the fact that no one suspects a humble cleaning lady like Fatma, and he wants her to keep on killing, and he’ll get a cut of whatever pay she gets. Fatma gets so angry that her impulses get the better of her. What Shows Will It Remind You Of?   Fatma  feels a little like mixing a show like Barry , about an unlikely professional killer, with one who gets in over his/her head and has to keep killing, like  Your Honor . Our Take: Written by Ozgur Onurme,  Fatma  definitely has an interesting idea behind it. What gives a seemingly normal person the impulse to kill, and what happens when that person finally acts on that impulse. Burcu Biricik puts in a fine performance as Fatma, who we find is exactly that sort of person. She seems meek and powerless, walking around Istanbul in her shapeless dresses and babushkas, looking like the world-weary person with a grind of a job she is. But when her back is to the wall, well, she’s a force to be reckoned with. The first episode definitely shows that the people she’s killing aren’t exactly going to be missed by greater society, but it’s also obvious she’s not doing it in self-defense. Even if the bloodlust in her comes out under fear and duress, it’s there, and as she gets in deeper with Bayram, it’ll be fascinating to see if she embraces this side of her or continues to fight against it. What we don’t think will happen is Fatma going to be the female equivalent of going from “Mr. Chips to Scarface,” as Vince Gilligan always described Walter White. She’ll likely be a reluctant killer who just wants to see her husband again, even though her husband is involved in some really shady stuff. How deep she really gets will be what drives the action of this series. Sex and Skin: None. Parting Shot: After dealing with the other person her husband owed money to, Fatma catches her breath and looks down at the railroad tracks. Sleeper Star: Uğur Yücel plays a writer whom Fatma cares for during her cleaning shifts at his apartment. He looks for material in even tawdry cable news stories about murders, and asks Fatma if people would murder family. Foreshadowing? Most Pilot-y Line: None. Our Call: STREAM IT.  Fatma  feels like the kind of show that will build to a crescendo as the main character goes further and further down a violent rabbit hole. We love shows like that, as long as it keeps ratcheting up the tension as the season goes along. Should you stream or skip the Turkish thriller #Fatma on @netflix ? #SIOSI #FatmaNetflix — Decider (@decider) April 28, 2021 Joel Keller ( @joelkeller ) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com , VanityFair.com , Fast Company and elsewhere. Stream  Fatma On Netflix Turkish drama Does 'Yellowstone' Return Tonight? 'Yellowstone's Season 5, Part 2 Premiere Date, 'The Madison' Spin-off Updates, And More Andy Cohen Implies That He Never Wants To See Or Hear From Bethenny Frankel Again On 'WWHL' Where's Kelly Ripa This Week? 'Live' Co-Host's Absence Stretches Into Week Two Is 'It Ends With Us' Streaming on Netflix or HBO Max? 'The View's Whoopi Goldberg Snaps At Joy Behar While Defending Harrison Butker's Controversial Commencement Speech: "Stop That!" Is 'The View' Going Off The Air? Distorting the Message of Fatima to Fit Progressivism Not faithful to the real Fatima message or apparitions The joviality of the movie characters contrast with the seriousness of the real children, below A progressivist parish priest who states: ‘knowledge means tolerance’ A strange new-age bleeding Mary contrasts violently with the depictions of Our Lady, as described by Lucy The second part of the definition of the spirit of Vatican is: Hostility towards the militancy, hierarchy and sacrality of the Church. See Mr. Guimarães explain here . The Two Sister Lucys The Consecration of Russia Fatima Becomes Interfaith Shrine The Progressivist Challenge to Fatima The Five First Saturdays Our Lady of Fatima & Her Secret Message Tickets & Showtimes Trending on RT TV & Streaming Shows Best & Popular (Photo by Sony Pictures Releasing /Courtesy Everett Collection. IT ENDS WITH US.) Best Rom-Coms and Romance Movies of 2024 Look, with the recent successes of Anyone But You or even Ticket to Paradise , we’re not saying rom-coms and romance movies are back to full life in theaters, but that their demise has been greatly exaggerated. (Just like our last few dates off the apps.) And besides, in the privacy of our homes? Things are really heating up, with plenty of choices on streaming services, both from abroad and of every outlook. So when we put together our guide of the 2024’s best rom-coms and romance movies, we’re looking at PDAs for everyone to see in fawning awe (we won’t acknowledge of any other reaction) and what’s happening behind shuttered living room curtains. This includes It Ends With Us (starring Blake Lively, adapting Colleen Hoover ‘s multi-million best-seller), Hit Man (starring and co-written Glen Powell …so he’s got brains to go with the rest of the package?), Challengers (featuring Zendaya in a love triangle and sports shorts), The Fall Guy (with Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in the Barbenheimer reunification we didn’t know we needed), Love Lies Bleeding (the unapologetic thriller with Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian), Fly Me to the Moon ( Scarlett Johannsson and Channing Tatum take a gambit on romance),  The Idea of You (if Anne Hathaway’s happy, we’re happy), and Upgraded (a good old-fashioned rom-com with Camila Mendes). We’ve ranked the list by Tomatometer, with Certified Fresh movies first. Whether it’s date night or friends outing, or something to cozy up with a partner (even if it is a pint of ice cream), with all the choices, tonight’s the night you’ll find a match. Música (2024) 96% Hit Man (2023) 95% Love Lies Bleeding (2024) 94% Challengers (2024) 88% The Beast (2023) 87% The Fall Guy (2024) 82% The Idea of You (2024) 81% Cora Bora (2023) 80% Upgraded (2024) 76% Turtles All the Way Down (2024) 86% Merry Christmas (2024) 85% Mai (2024) 80% Skywalkers: A Love Story (2024) 73% Marmalade (2024) 71% Goyo (2024) 75% Fly Me to the Moon (2024) 65% Mr. & Mrs. Mahi (2024) 64% The Image of You (2024) 63% It Ends With Us (2024) 58% Love, Divided (2024) 57% Lisa Frankenstein (2024) 52% Players (2024) 50% My Name Is Loh Kiwan (2024) 50% Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya (2024) 43% Irish Wish (2024) 41% Find Me Falling (2024) 41% The Heartbreak Agency (2024) 40% Five Blind Dates (2024) 38% A Family Affair (2024) 35% Space Cadet (2024) 27% French Girl (2024) 29% How to Date Billy Walsh (2024) 20% Through My Window 3: Looking at You (2024) 20% Art of Love (2024) 20% The Tearsmith (2024) 14% Mother of the Bride (2024) 13% More countdown. All Alien Movies In Order: How to Watch Chronologically 30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming 25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming Movie & TV News Featured on rt. August 13, 2024 The Freakier Friday Cast on New Music, Filming the Iconic Scream Scene, and More August 12, 2024 Weekend Box Office: Deadpool & Wolverine Crosses $1 Billion Top Headlines All Alien Movies In Order: How to Watch Chronologically – 30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming – 25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming – All 55 Billion-Dollar Movies, Ranked by Tomatometer – 50 Best 1980s Cult Movies & Classics – Best Horror Movies of 2024 Ranked – New Scary Movies to Watch – Raygun becomes viral sensation during breaking performance at 2024 Paris Olympics: Social media reacts Breaking , more commonly known as breakdancing, made its debut as an Olympic sport this week at the 2024 Paris Games , with 17 B-girls and 16 B-boys making their way to France with the hopes of securing a gold medal. On the first day of competition, viewers from across the world were treated to a different kind of introduction — not to the sport itself, but one of its athletes. Though she was a long way from winning a gold medal, likely no breaker Friday captured the imagination of the international audience more than Rachael Gunn, an Australian breaker who competes under the name “Raygun.” REQUIRED READING: Follow USA TODAY's coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics Raygun went 0-3 in her head-to-head competitions Friday — falling to Logistx of the United States, Syssy of France and eventual silver medalist Nicka of Lithuania by a combined score of 54-0 — and failed to record a point across those three matches, but for what she lacked in smoothly executed moves, she made up for in the hearts she won over with her demeanor. Raygun’s short-lived Olympic experience made her a celebrity, one who people became even more enamored with once they learned more about her. The 36-year-old Gunn, who was one of the oldest qualifiers in the breaking competition, has a PhD in cultural studies and is a college professor at Macquarie University in Sydney. Her research focuses primarily on breaking, street dance and hip-hop culture while her work draws on “cultural theory, dance studies, popular music studies, media, and ethnography.” “In 2023, many of my students didn’t believe me when I told them I was training to qualify for the Olympics, and were shocked when they checked Google and saw that I qualified,” Gunn said to CNBC earlier this month . Unlike much of her competition in Paris, Gunn took up break dancing later in life. She didn’t enter her first battle until 2012. On Friday, a person who began the day as a little-known academic ended it as a viral worldwide sensation. Here’s a sampling of the reaction to Raygun and her performance: 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS: Meet the members of Team USA competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics Social media reacts to Raygun’s breaking performance at 2024 Paris Olympics I could live all my life and never come up with anything as funny as Raygun, the 36-year-old Australian Olympic breakdancer pic.twitter.com/1uPYBxIlh8 — mariah (@mariahkreutter) August 9, 2024 Give Raygun the gold right now #breakdancing pic.twitter.com/bMtAWEh3xo — n★ (@nichstarr) August 9, 2024 my five year old niece after she says “watch this!” : pic.twitter.com/KBAMSkgltj — alex (@alex_abads) August 9, 2024 I'd like to personally thank Raygun for making millions of people worldwide think "huh, maybe I can make the Olympics too" pic.twitter.com/p5QlUbkL2w — Bradford Pearson (@BradfordPearson) August 9, 2024 The Aussie B-Girl Raygun dressed as a school PE teach complete with cap while everyone else is dressed in funky breaking outfits has sent me. It looks like she’s giving her detention for inappropriate dress at school 🤣 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/lWVU3myu6C — Georgie Heath🎙️ (@GeorgieHeath27) August 9, 2024 There has not been an Olympic performance this dominant since Usain Bolt’s 100m sprint at Beijing in 2008. Honestly, the moment Raygun broke out her Kangaroo move this competition was over! Give her the #breakdancing gold 🥇 pic.twitter.com/6q8qAft1BX — Trapper Haskins (@TrapperHaskins) August 9, 2024 my dog on the lawn 30 seconds after i've finished bathing him pic.twitter.com/A5aqxIbV3H — David Mack (@davidmackau) August 9, 2024 My wife at 3AM: I think I heard one of the kids Me: No way, they are asleep *looks at baby monitor* pic.twitter.com/Ubhi6kY4w4 — Wes Blankenship (@Wes_nship) August 9, 2024 me tryna get the duvet off when i’m too hot at night #olympics pic.twitter.com/NM4Fb2MEmX — robyn (@robynjournalist) August 9, 2024 Raygun really hit them with the "Tyrannosaurus." pic.twitter.com/ZGCMjhzth9 — Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) August 9, 2024 Raygun (AUS) https://t.co/w2lxLRaW2x — Peter Nygaard (@RetepAdam) August 9, 2024 EWTN News, Inc. is the world’s largest Catholic news organization, comprised of television, radio, print and digital media outlets, dedicated to reporting the truth in light of the Gospel and the Catholic Church. National Catholic Register News Agencies Catholic News Agency CNA Deutsch ACI Afrique ACI Digital Digital Media ChurchPOP Español ChurchPOP Italiano ChurchPOP Português EWTN News Indepth EWTN News Nightly EWTN Noticias EWTN Pro-life Weekly Register Radio Get HALF OFF the Register! National Catholic Register News https://www.ncregister.com/features/sdg-reviews-fatima-a-compelling-visually-lush-religious-drama Synod on Synodality Most Popular Publisher’s Note College Guide Commentaries Culture of Life Arts & Entertainment Publisher's Note Letters to the Editor Support the Register Print subscriptions E-Newsletter Sign-up EWTN Religious Catalogue SDG Reviews ‘Fatima,’ a Compelling, Visually Lush Religious Drama The story of the 20th century’s most celebrated Marian apparitions comes to life in a fine retelling from co-writer and director Marco Pontecorvo and Catholic screenwriter Barbara Nicolosi. Note: Theatrical and home viewing information for viewing Fátima is available at the film’s official website . Marco Pontecorvo’s Fátima is the first screen version of the Marian apparitions at Fátima and the “Miracle of the Sun” I’ve seen that feels like the characters are living through the story’s events in the present tense. That’s more than a little ironic, because it’s also the version that most emphatically places those events in the past, almost but not quite presenting them in flashback from the perspective of an aging Sister Lúcia (Brazilian actress Sônia Braga, Aquarius ) discussing her experiences with a skeptical professor of religion named Nichols (Harvey Keitel) visiting her at the Carmelite convent in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1989. The 2009 art-house indie The 13th Day offered a simpler framing device — Sister Lúcia writing her memoirs — but relied on it more extensively, allowing frequent voice-over narration to carry much of the narrative. The 1991 Portuguese docudrama Apparitions at Fátima ( Aparição or Apparition is the Portuguese title) also relied on voice-over, sometimes clumsily. Neither film was much interested in dramatizing what motivated the adult figures who become effective or formal antagonists to the three visionary children: Lúcia’s disapproving mother; the skeptical parish priest; the anticlerical mayor. Nor was the classic Hollywood version of the story, the 1952 film The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima , which too obviously tried to emulate the crown jewel of Golden Age Hollywood piety, The Song of Bernadette , without matching its depth of humanity or level of craft. All of these Fátima films emphasized the turmoil in Europe, and in Portugal in particular, at the moment in 1917 when Our Lady appeared, from the horror of the First World War to the oppression of the Church by Portugal’s hardline secular government. Only Fátima — written by Barbara Nicolosi, Valerio D’Annunzio and Pontecorvo — captures the sense of life going on at the moment that the three children, 10-year-old Lúcia (Stephanie Gil) and her younger cousins Francisco (Jorge Lamelas) and Jacinta (Alejandra Howard), start to talk about having seen a Lady from heaven at the Cova da Iria , the family pastureland where Lúcia watched her family’s flock of sheep. Above all, there is the grimly regular ritual of residents of Ourém, the municipality where Lúcia’s village of Aljustrel on the outskirts of Fátima is located, gathering to listen in suspense while the mayor (or civil administrator), Artur Santos (Croatian-American actor Goran Višnjić, Beginners ), reads the latest list of local soldiers who have been declared dead or missing. The list is alphabetical, so there are sighs of relief when the first name is uttered that comes after the name one is most hoping not to hear — in the case of Lúcia’s family, that of Lúcia’s brother Manuel. (This is one of the film’s more notable fictionalizations; the relative at war was a cousin of Lúcia, not a brother.) Filming entirely in Portugal, frequent collaborators Pontecorvo and cinematographer Vincenzo Carpineta ( Game of Thrones , Rome ) create rich, atmospheric images with a vivid sense of place, from the medieval town center of Ourém — where, incongruously, the mayor holds forth on the triumph of modern secularism over religious superstition — to the rustic houses of Aljustrel and the rugged beauty of the Cova da Iria . (The scenes in Ourém were filmed in the central Portuguese town of Tomar, which has a picturesque medieval town center with a Renaissance-era church dedicated to John the Baptist. The stone village of Cidadelhe, also known as Piñel, stands in for Aljustrel.) When the Lady appears, the transcendent nature of the experience is suggested not with luminous special effects or heraldic scoring but with subjective, impressionistic camerawork and editing. “She was as real as you are,” Lúcia insists to her mother, and, indeed, Portuguese actress Joana Ribiero, serene and benevolent in elegantly simple white garments, walks barefoot on the earth of the Cova as naturalistically as anyone else. But our glimpses of her are brief and partial — eyes gazing at the children; hands extended to them, holding a rosary; a trickle of blood on her breast — interspersed with the empty space that others see (including, at first, Francisco, who doesn’t immediately see the Lady and later sees her but doesn’t hear her voice when her lips move). This approach seems to me more evocative than, say, overly familiar computerized glowy effects that we’ve seen in any number of superhero movies over the last decade or so. No cinematic technique, no human art of any kind, can accurately recreate the transcendence of a religious experience, and the most effective religious art has never aspired to representational exactness. For the first time in any film I’ve seen, Lúcia’s mother, Maria Rosa (Portuguese singer and actress Lúcia Moniz), is a developed character: devout, with some education, loving and wanting what’s best for her daughter, but understandably upset and angry over what she can only conceive as a startling pretense taken too far. A moment in which Maria defiantly faces down disapproving neighbors movingly shows us for the first time the mother suffering with her daughter, rather than being just one more voice against Lúcia. Artur Santos, the mayor, is cast as a sort of Pilate figure, caught between, on the one hand, pressure from political higher-ups in Lisbon and the consequent need to maintain order and avoid awkward viral religious hysteria and, on the other, the gentle but firm resistance of his Catholic wife, Adelina (Iris Cayatte). (The Santos’ relationship is not entirely unlike that of Pilate and his wife in The Passion of the Christ , and an expression of solidarity between Santos’ wife and the pious protesters recalls Pilate’s wife bringing linens to the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene to wipe Jesus’ blood after the scourging.) The filmmakers don’t shy from some of the more challenging aspects of the Fátima message, from the emphasis on mortification and the offense given to God by sin to the children’s dreadful visions of war and hell. When Lúcia fears that her brother may have been killed in battle, she spends hours shuffling on her knees in prayer in the Cova , trailed by her respectfully concerned father. (The Lady does tell the children, though, not to keep punishing themselves with ropes tied around their waists.) As the Lady asked a great deal of the three children, Pontecorvo asks a great deal of his young actors; the film rests on their credibility, as the visionaries’ story rested on theirs. Pontecorvo seems to have a flair for directing children (first seen in his acclaimed feature debut Pa-Ra-Da ), and Gil as Lúcia especially is thoroughly persuasive both in rapture and in conflicted confusion. Lamelas brings sensitivity to Francisco and Howard charm to Jacinta. Keitel’s skeptical Professor Nichols is a very rough functional counterpart to Gilbert Roland’s softhearted rogue in The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima , a nonbelieving character meant to serve as a point of entry for non-Catholic viewers. Perhaps surprisingly, the latter-day segments with Sister Lúcia — which would form a framing story, were it not for a prologue-like opening sequence depicting an early apparition (not of the Virgin Mary but of the Guardian Angel of Portugal) and the somewhat abrupt ending in the immediate aftermath of the “Miracle of the Sun” — wind up being the film’s weakest links. Keitel and Braga are a pleasure to watch, but Nichols’ line of questioning is too often more sophomoric (or village atheist) than professorial. (If the nails through Christ’s hands would actually have been set in the wrists, does that mean that God deliberately chose the “wrong” location for stigmata?) If there’s any reason for the latter-day storyline to be set in 1989 — any relevance of the events at Fátima to that moment toward the end of the 20th century, and perhaps by extension any resonance with our own historical moment — it doesn’t come out. (The filmmakers couldn’t have known at the time production wrapped that Fátima would debut in the midst of a global pandemic, eerily resonating with the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic in which young Francisco and Jacinta died shortly after these events.) Notably, while Nichols questions Sister Lúcia at length on her visionary experiences, they never get around to discussing the widely witnessed Miracle of the Sun — where it might have been her opportunity to cross-examine him . This lapse not only leaves their dialogue more static than it might have been, it also leaves the “Miracle of the Sun” as the last sequence, without any reflection or perspective except what can be provided by closing titles. Those issues aside, Fátima is easily the most compelling dramatization of the Fátima story to date and fills a long-felt need in the world of religious cinema. It’s sturdy enough to hold up to periodic rewatchings, for example on May 13, the feast day of Our Lady of Fátima. Deacon  Steven D. Greydanus  is the Register’s film critic and creator of  Decent Films . He is a permanent deacon in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey. Caveat Spectator: Disturbing visionary images of battlefield violence and a brief visualization of hell. Older kids and up. our lady of fatima sdg reviews steven d. greydanus Steven D. Greydanus Related Stories Latest News On Foot to Fátima: A Beautiful Journey During the Month of Mary ‘If you can look, see. If you can see, notice …’ Virgin Mary Today Asks Same She Asked of Little Shepherds 107 Years Ago, Cardinal Says According to the Fátima Shrine, on the evening of Sunday, May 12, about 250,000 pilgrims participated in the prayers and the traditional candlelight procession. ‘Night of Love’ Unites National Eucharistic Revival and Fatima New initiative from Blue Army brings together two powerful devotions that will change hearts and souls. How the ‘Miracle of the Sun’ in Fátima Helped to End an Atheist Regime Oct. 13, 1917, marked the last Marian apparition in Fátima. Looking at the National Eucharistic Congress Through the Lens of a Pilgrim COMMENTARY: The Eucharist is Christ’s great living war memorial, which each day actualizes his victory and brings us to share his triumph. Five Unbelievable (but True) Catholic Miracles That Scientists Can’t Explain, On Worry or Anxiety, and More Great Links! The Best In Catholic Blogging Heaven Has Music — Hell Has Noise The kind of music that moves us tells us about who we are. Learn to Love Your Neolithic Neighbors Modern humans should consider the plank in their own eye before presuming to see a mote in the eye of their ‘primitive’ neighbors. 3 Steps to Following St. Ignatius’ 14 Rules for Discernment of Spirits, This Leads to Demonic Possession, and More Great Links! Memo to the paris olympics: france owes everything to christianity, what is the ordinariate of the chair of saint peter and why is it flourishing, recent data reveal main reason younger americans aren’t having kids, cardinal o’malley’s retirement expands his mission, 5 holy doors: what every catholic should know ahead of jubilee 2025, demon party tricks, how to make an examination of conscience, the eternal root of homelife, and more great links, watch: why is finding catholic mr. or mrs. right so hard, a brush with death and a zest for life, vp candidate tim walz’s record on catholic issues: what you need to know, here’s why the eucharistic congress was a historic moment for sisters in america, subscription options. Subscriber Service Center Already a subscriber? Renew or manage your subscription here . Subscribe and Save HALF OFF! Start your Register subscription today. Give a Gift Subscription Bless friends, family or clergy with a gift of the Register. Order Bulk Subscriptions Get a discount on 6 or more copies sent to your parish, organization or school. Sign-up for E-Newsletter Get Register Updates sent daily or weeklyto your inbox. Advertisement Supported by Critic’s Pick ‘Cuckoo’ Review: Never Has a Movie Been More Aptly Named Dan Stevens and Hunter Schafer face off in this unexpectedly fun and undeniably nutty horror-comedy about cross-species pollination. Share full article By Jeannette Catsoulis “Is this normal?” a bewildered hotel guest in “Cuckoo” inquires after witnessing a fellow guest stagger, vomiting, into the lobby. Viewers might be wondering the same thing about a movie whose title could reveal as much about the sensibility of its director as the nature of its plot. Possessed of a singular, at times inexplicable vision, the German filmmaker Tilman Singer proves once again — after his experimental debut, “Luz” (2019) — that he’s more drawn to sensation than sense. Liberated from logic, his pictures dance on the border between bewitching and baffling, exciting and irksome. Sidling several steps closer to an identifiable plot, “Cuckoo” flaps around Gretchen (an excellent Hunter Schafer), a grieving, unsettled 17-year-old whose mother has died and whose father (Marton Csokas) has brought her to live with his new family in a resort in the Bavarian Alps. From the moment she arrives, nothing seems quite right. Missing her mother and her life in America, Gretchen is slow to connect with her brisk stepmother (Jessica Henwick) and her much younger half sister, Alma (Mila Lieu), who is mute and suffers from unexplained seizures. Adding to Gretchen’s uneasiness is the resort’s touchy-feely owner, Herr König (Dan Stevens), who seems weirdly fixated on Alma. Strange screechings fill the woods, and a frightening figure in white appears to be stalking Gretchen as she walks home from her job at the resort’s reception desk. Maybe that switchblade we saw her unpack will come in handy, after all. A tale of human-avian experimentation with phantasmagoric flourishes, “Cuckoo” is unsubtle and frequently unhinged. The narrative may be blurred, but the mood is pure freak show, and Stevens, bless him, immediately grasps the comic possibilities of the movie’s themes and the nuttiness of his character. Reprising his flawless German accent from the charming 2021 sci-fi romance “I’m Your Man,” he gives König a seductive creepiness that’s less mad scientist than horny ornithologist. Obsessed with replicating — in unspeakable ways — the breeding behaviors of the titular bird, König requires the cooperation of willing young women. Gretchen is not eager to become one of them. Shooting on 35-millimeter film, Paul Faltz, backed by Simon Waskow’s whining, fidgety score, leans into the surreality of Gretchen’s predicament with bizarre close-ups. Ears jerk and twitch in response to mysterious calls; throats flutter with a rapid, stuttering pulse; slimy secretions are passed from one woman to another. And as the resort’s dangers escalate and Gretchen’s injuries multiply, the film’s bonkers, body-horror ambitions become the means by which she will overcome her grief and heal her emotional dislocation. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber?  Log in . Want all of The Times?  Subscribe . Upcoming New Disney and Pixar Movies: 2024 Release Dates and Beyond What disney movies can you expect this year. Disney’s 100th anniversary may be over, but the studio and its sister company, Pixar, still have a handful of films coming out in 2024 and beyond. Aside from films by Marvel, 20th Century Fox, and other studios owned by Disney , the release calendar for Disney Studios and Pixar Animation Studios films for this year is small thanks to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which put production on many movies on hold, and subsequently pushed the release dates for some of them back by a year or so. With the strikes now in our rearview mirror, we rounded up all the major films from Disney and Pixar that have a firm release date and are still in the works. Disney and Pixar Movies: Upcoming Release Dates Upcoming disney and pixar movies. Whether they release in theaters or on Disney+, here’s a look at the major Disney and Pixar movies coming from now through 2025 and beyond. Moana 2 (November 27, 2024) Mufasa: the lion king (december 20, 2024), snow white (live-action remake) (march 21, 2025), elio (june 13, 2025), tron: ares (october 10, 2025), zootopia 2 (november 26, 2025), freakier friday (2025), lilo & stitch (live-action remake) (2025), toy story 5 (june 19, 2026). Moana (Live-Action Remake) (July 10, 2026) Frozen 3 (November 24, 2027) Incredibles 3 (date tbd), bambi (live-action remake) (date tbd), hercules (live-action remake) (date tbd). Here's more on the upcoming Disney and Pixar movies that we have the most information about right now: Not even a year after the live-action remake of Moana was announced, The Walt Disney Company announced Moana 2 out of nowhere on February 7, 2024, giving us a teaser trailer of Moana standing on the beach to blow her conch shell. It also released a first-look image of Moana, Maui, and a couple of new characters sailing by a whale shark, which appears to be one of Moana's ancestors considering how her grandmother Tala appeared as a manta ray after she passed away. The surprise sequel's plot finds the new young chief of Motonui Island hitting the high seas of Oceania and beyond with Maui and a new crew of seafarers after receiving an unexpected call from her wayfaring ancestors. The sequel will be directed by Dave Derrick Jr., with music composed by Grammy winners Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear, Grammy nominee Opetaia Foa’i, and three-time Grammy winner Mark Mancina. Lin-Manuel Miranda will not return with new music for the film. As told by Rafiki to Kiara, Simba and Nala’s daughter, the prequel to the 2019 live-action remake of The Lion King tells the story of how her grandfather Mufasa became king of the Pride Lands. The story will also reveal how Mufasa and Scar went from loving brothers to bitter enemies, while Timon and Pumbaa sprinkle in colorful commentary. Mufasa: The Lion King will mark Kiara’s second appearance in a feature film since the direct-to-video sequel The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride, despite also making an appearance in the Disney Channel/Disney Junior animated series The Lion Guard. Aaron Pierre and Kevin Harrison, Jr. will voice young Mufasa and Scar, respectively, while Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner will reprise their voice roles of Pumbaa and Timon. Which upcoming Disney or Pixar movie are you most looking forward to? Details about the live-action remake of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves are scarce, but what we do know is that Rachel Zegler will play the leading Disney Princess , Gal Gadot is cast as the Evil Queen, and Andrew Burnap will play a new character named Jonathan, replacing Prince Charming. Greta Gerwing and Erin Cressida Wilson wrote the screenplay, and Marc Webb is the director. The film was originally scheduled to release this year, but Disney pushed its release date back to March 21, 2025 due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes. The casting caused controversy among audiences because Zegler, who is part-Colombian, does not fit Snow White’s profile of having “skin as white as snow,” and because she made comments about making the character stronger than she was in the original — both issues Zegler addressed. In October 2023, Disney released a first look image of Snow White and the dwarves, who are rendered in CGI to resemble their appearances in the original film. Elio is about an 11-year-old boy who gets abducted by aliens after they mistake him for Earth’s ambassador to the rest of the universe. After he is beamed up to the Communiverse, an intergalactic council comprising representatives from other planets for contacting them by mistake, Elio has to form bonds with eccentric alien life forms and survive a series of formidable trials in order to hopefully get sent back home. Elio was originally scheduled to be released on March 1, 2024, but because production of the film paused due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, Pixar pushed the release date back to June 13, 2025. Tron: Ares is set to be a reboot of the Tron film franchise, not a direct sequel to Tron: Legacy. Jared Leto has been cast as the titular character Ares, a computer AI program who embarks on a journey from the digital dimension to the human world. Tron: Ares was originally announced to be a sequel to Tron: Legacy as Tron 3 in 2010, but Disney cancelled it in 2015 following the box office failure of Tomorrowland. The film’s development restarted in 2017, but had changed directors ever since, from Garth Davis to Joachim Rønning. Production started in December 2023, and the film is slated to release in theaters October 10, 2025. Zootopia 2 was also announced by Iger last February to be in development alongside Frozen 3 and Toy Story 5. Details about the sequel to the film about a city populated by anthropomorphic animals in climate-diverse landscapes are scarce, but they’ll be revealed at a later date. As for what would happen in the film, a few of the actors shared some ideas. According to CinemaBlend , Ginnifer Goodwin said she would like to see a role reversal between her character Judy Hopps and Jason Bateman’s Nick Wilde, saying that because they’re now a cop team, “I would also like to see Nick [Wilde] have to be the one to convince Judy [Hopps] that the world is worth fighting for.” Bateman, on the other hand, said the plot should be about “The two of us, kicking ass out there. Cleaning up the streets. We’re a couple of new cops out there. So, bad guys, be warned.” Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis are returning for this sequel to Freaky Friday, which promises to be even, well, freakier: Freakier Friday . The actors showed up onstage at D23 in August, 2024, to tout the film, which of course is the sequel to a remake of the originaly 1977 Freaky Friday starring Jodie Foster and Barbara Harris. The film will be released in 2025. The live-action Lilo & Stitch remake got a first preview at Disney's D23 event in August, 2024, in the form of what the "live-action" Stitch will look like. Of course, he's still gonna be computer-generated, but he'll be appearing, persumably, opposite real actors and in real settings. Maia Kealoha plays Lilo and Zach Galifianakis also stars in an unspecified role. The film is expected sometime in 2025. Disney CEO Bob Iger surprised Toy Story fans on February 8, 2023 with the news that Pixar is now producing Toy Story 5 . Although it seemed like Toy Story 4 wrapped up the series for good as Woody and Buzz Lightyear went their separate ways, it appears as if the story will continue. Though the news received a warm welcome by many fans of Pixar movies , others questioned the necessity of a fifth Toy Story film. Do you think the series should have ended with Toy Story 4? We don't have any concrete details about Toy Story 5 as far the plot is concerned. However, we do know that the movie is set to release on June 19, 2026. See everything we know about Toy Story 5 . Moana (Live Action Remake) (July 10, 2026) Just like the original 2016 CGI animated film, the plot for the live-action remake of Moana will revolve around a young girl who is chosen by the ocean to reunite an ancient relic with the Polynesian goddess Te Fiti with the help of the exiled demigod named Maui. This puts her on a mission to not only save the ocean, but also save her island of Motonui, which has been afflicted with blight as a result of the volcanic demon Te Kā’s rampage. The live-action remake for Moana was announced on April 3, 2023 , with Dwayne Johnson slated to produce the film and reprise his role of Maui, who was inspired by his grandfather Peter Maivia, a former WWE star. Auli'i Cravalho won’t reprise her role as the titular heroine; however, she’ll serve as executive producer. Bob Iger announced that Frozen 3 was in the works on February 8, 2023, but details about the sequel have since been scarce. However, Idina Menzel and Josh Gad confirmed they will reprise their roles as Elsa and Olaf, respectively. Kristen Bell hasn’t said whether she’ll return as the plucky heroine Anna. While story details about Frozen 3 haven’t been officially revealed, it is expected to pick up where Frozen 2 left off, with Anna becoming queen of Arendelle after Elsa abdicated the throne to become the protector of the Enchanted Forest after learning she’s the fifth spirit bridging the gap between people and magic. As for the release date, it might come out in late 2025. See everything we know about Frozen 3 . Yes, Incredibles 3 is happening, and series director Brad Bird is also back. Beyond that, not much more is known about the film, which was revealed at D23 in August, 2024. The live-action remake of Bambi was confirmed to be in development in January 2020 following the success of Guy Ritchie’s take on Aladdin. The producers aim to use photorealistic CGI for the animal characters just as they did for The Lion King remake and, according to former screenwriter Lindsey Anderson Beer, tone down Bambi’s mother’s death to make it less traumatic for today’s kids than the original 1942 animated film. “Not to spoil the plot, but there’s a treatment of the mom dying that I think some kids, some parents these days are more sensitive about than they were in the past,” she told Collider last year. “And I think that’s one of the reasons that they haven’t shown it to their children.” Sarah Polley, Academy Award-winning director of Women Talking, is reportedly set to direct the live-action Bambi . No one has been cast as the titular deer or any of his friends yet. Details surrounding the live-action adaptation of Hercules , which was announced in June 2022 , have been scarce since the SAG-AFTRA strikes save for a few tidbits. The movie will be directed by Guy Ritchie, making it the second Disney live-action remake on his resume after Aladdin, and it will be produced by the studio run by Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo. Danny DeVito may reprise his role as the wise satyr Phil, but that hasn’t been confirmed. Joe Russo explained to Variety that they’ll use TikTok as inspiration for putting a modern spin on the Disney Renaissance classic. “Audiences today have been trained by TikTok, right? What is their expectation of what that musical looks like and feels like? That can be a lot of fun and help us push the boundaries a little bit on how you execute a modern musical,” he said. More Upcoming Disney Movies Although our list only includes films beind created by Disney and Pixar, the fact of the matter is that Disney owns a lot of companies. If you're looking for more upcoming films under the Disney umbrella, here's a quick look at what to expect in 2024 and beyond from Star Wars, Marvel, and 20th Century Fox. Upcoming Star Wars Movies A lot of the upcoming Star Wars projects are actually TV shows, but there a few upcoming movies worth noting. Unfortunately, we don't exactly have release dates for any of these just yet. There's the upcoming Taika Waititi Star Wars movie as well as the recently announced Mandalorian and Grogu film, but we don't yet know when those will happen. Check out our full list of upcoming Star Wars movies for more info. Upcoming Marvel Movies Marvel has had a steady stream of movies arriving year after year, but 2024 is looking a bit sparse when it comes to new films. That being said, you can expect Deadpool & Wolverine to arrive this year and even more movies to arrive in 2025. Check out our full list of upcoming Marvel movies for more info. Upcoming 20th Century Fox Movies 20th Century Fox Studios has quite a few more movies expected to come out in 2024 compared to the rest of the entertainment companies Disney owns. With Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes out now, the next big film from ths studio is set to be Aliens: Romulus . You can check out this full list of 20th Century Studios movies for more info. Disney and Pixar Movies Released in 2023 These are the major Disney and Pixar movies that were released in 2023: Peter Pan & Wendy (April 28, 2023) The Little Mermaid (Live-Action Remake) (May 26, 2023) Elemental (June 16, 2023) Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (June 30, 2023) Haunted Mansion (July 28, 2023) Wish (November 22, 2023) Note: This story was updated on 8/13/2024. It was originally posted on 1/12/2024. Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. She has contributed her work to various publications, including Digital Trends, TheGamer, Twinfinite, Mega Visions, and The Escapist. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15. In This Article Where to Watch Not yet available for streaming. IGN Recommends Cast & crew User reviews A 17-year-old girl is forced to move with her family to a resort where things are not what they seem. A 17-year-old girl is forced to move with her family to a resort where things are not what they seem. A 17-year-old girl is forced to move with her family to a resort where things are not what they seem. Tilman Singer Hunter Schafer Jan Bluthardt Marton Csokas 47 User reviews 95 Critic reviews 60 Metascore 1 win & 5 nominations Top cast 26 (as Márton Csókás) (as Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey) Hooded Woman Teenage Girl Dr. Bonomos Assistant Absentminded Woman Receptionist All cast & crew Production, box office & more at IMDbPro New and Upcoming Horror More like this Did you know Trivia Originally scheduled to release on May 3, but it was delayed to August 9, for undisclosed reasons. Connections Referenced in Amanda the Jedi Show: Everyone in ABIGAIL is DUMB... and I love them | Explained (2024) Soundtracks Il Mio Prossimo Amore performed by Loretta Goggi User reviews 47 Feb 16, 2024 How long is Cuckoo? Powered by Alexa August 9, 2024 (United States) United States Official Amazon Link American Sign Language Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Fiction Park Waypoint Entertainment See more company credits at IMDbPro $7,000,000 (estimated) Aug 11, 2024 Technical specs Runtime 1 hour 42 minutes Related news Contribute to this page. See more gaps Learn more about contributing More to explore Recently viewed. 449 IMAGES DVD Review Fatima (2020) Fatima (2020) Fatima 2020 Movie Review Movie Review: Fatima (2020) Movie Review: Fatima (2020) COMMENTS Fatima movie review & film summary (2020) Fatima. In 1917, in the Portuguese town of Fátima, three small children were visited by an apparition of the Virgin Mary. She urged them to pray, to dedicate themselves to the rosary, and in so doing they could bring about an end to the war then ravaging Europe. The children, Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, told ... Fatima (2020) In 1917 three Portuguese children receive multiple visits from the Virgin Mary. Director Marco Pontecorvo Producer Stefano Buono, Rose Ganguzza, Natasha Howes, Maribel Lopera Sierra, Richard I ... Fatima Review: A Dark Look at Divine Visitations 'Fatima' Review: Faith-Based Movie Seeks Contemporary Lessons in Century-Old Miracle Reviewed online, Los Angeles, Aug. 23, 2020. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 113 MIN. 'Fatima' Review: Blinded by the Light Aug. 27, 2020. Fatima. Directed by Marco Pontecorvo. Drama. PG-13. 1h 53m. Find Tickets. When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate ... Fatima (2020) Fatima: Directed by Marco Pontecorvo. With Joaquim de Almeida, Goran Visnjic, Stephanie Gil, Alejandra Howard. Three young shepherds in Fátima, Portugal report visions of the Virgin Mary, inspiring believers and angering officials of the Church and the government, who try to force them to recant their story. Based on historical events. Fatima Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 12, 2020. Sarah Knight Adamson Sarah's Backstage Pass. "Fatima" is a gorgeous film with inccredible performances by all cast members. The beautiful ... Fatima About 82,000 civilians die from foot shortages. The mysterious woman never asked for a wider audience. But telling 7-year-old Jacinta to keep a secret is like telling the tide to stay in. Word quickly hits the Santos family. That evening, Lúcia's pious mother, Maria, confronts Lúcia and her crazy story. Review: 'Fatima' scores a point for faith by exploring doubt Review: 'Fatima' scores a point for faith by exploring doubt. John Anderson August 28, 2020. ... it is a welcome moment of something close to mirth in a movie that takes its subject very ... Review: Children during war see angel of peace in 'Fatima' Review: Children in a time of war see an apparition of peace in 'Fatima'. The Los Angeles Times is committed to reviewing new theatrical film releases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because ... Fatima Review by Pamela Hutchinson |. Published on 25 06 2021. Release Date: 25 Jun 2021. Original Title: Fatima. Can a child's faith be trusted? In this drama based on a true story, Sônia Braga plays an ... Fatima (2020 film) Fatima (2020 film) 13 languages. ... Fátima is a 2020 faith-based drama film directed by Marco Pontecorvo. ... On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 57% based on 53 reviews with an average rating of 6/10. The website's critical consensus read, ... Fatima (2020) Movie Reviews SAVE $5 ON THE X TRILOGY BUNDLE. Buy a Ticket, Save $5 on The X Trilogy Bundle to watch at home. BUY TICKETS. In 1917, outside the parish of Fátima, Portugal, a 10-year-old girl and her two younger cousins witness multiple visitations of the Virgin Mary, who tells them that only prayer and suffering will bring an end to World War I. Movie Review: Fatima (2020) Fatima challenges our normal consensus view of reality and strives to evoke in us a renewed sense of mystery regardless of our religious or secular beliefs. Allowing us to see the world through a broader lens, it points us towards a new connection with the cosmos. Critical Movie Critic Rating: 4. Movie Review: Tenet (2020) Fatima Movie Review Parents need to know that Fatima is a drama about a 1917 religious event referred to as "The Miracle of the Sun." Three children, ages 7 to 10, report that the Virgin Mary has appeared to them, asking them to deliver her message that World War I will end if people pray and "suffer greatly." Despite intense…. "FATIMA": a Review Brad Miner. Monday, August 31, 2020. The time has probably passed when films about faithful Catholics could be box-office hits, but Italian director Marco Pontecorvo has given his best to make one with Fatima. This iteration of the story of the Marian apparitions scans almost as a remake of 1952's The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, except for ... 'Fatima' review: A look back at the 1917 'miracle ... Reviews Deals ... Published 10:00 AM EDT, Thu August 27, 2020 ... becoming a pilgrimage site for Catholics as well as the movie "The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima" in the 1950s. ... Fatima In 1917, outside the parish of Fátima, Portugal, a 10-year-old girl and her two younger cousins witness multiple visitations of the Virgin Mary, who tells them that only prayer and suffering will bring an end to World War I. As secularist government officials and Church leaders try to force the children to recant their story, word of the sighting spreads across the country, inspiring ... Fátima (2020) Fátima (2020) A- Fátima is scheduled for theatrical and home video release in North America on August 28. SDG Original source: National Catholic Register. Marco Pontecorvo's Fátima is the first screen version of the Marian apparitions at Fátima and the "Miracle of the Sun" I've seen that feels like the characters are living through the story's events in the present tense. Fatima movie review The latest film to portray the 1917 Fatima apparitions and "Miracle of the Sun" is a beautifully crafted and portrayed faith-based drama, with Fatima a stirring movie where faith, doubt, and the power of miracles are explored to stirring effect.. Fatima is released at a time where a miracle is sorely needed in the world. Miracles, in the Judeo-Christian concept of the world, are not an ... 'Fatima' Netflix Review: Stream It or Skip It? 02:38. Netflix has scooped up 2020's faithish-based BOATS ( Based On A True Story, natch) drama Fatima, the story of Sister Lucia de Jesus dos Santos, the Portuguese woman whose hangouts with ... 'Fatma' Netflix Review: Stream It Or Skip It? When the cop asks what business she has with them, and she says "Cleaning.". The Gist: Fatma Yılmaz (Burcu Biricik), a seemingly shy woman who cleans people's homes and offices in Istanbul ... Review of the movie Fatima (2020) by Salwa Bachar Review of the movie Fatima (2020) Salwa Bachar. Not faithful to the real Fatima message or apparitions. In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Fatima director Marco Pontecorvo stated: "You saw the movie. Everything is real - it's taken from her books of memories and other elements. So we played with real elements; we tried ... Best Rom-Coms and Romance Movies of 2024 (Photo by Sony Pictures Releasing /Courtesy Everett Collection. IT ENDS WITH US.) Best Rom-Coms and Romance Movies of 2024. Look, with the recent successes of Anyone But You or even Ticket to Paradise, we're not saying rom-coms and romance movies are back to full life in theaters, but that their demise has been greatly exaggerated.(Just like our last few dates off the apps.) Social media reacts to Raygun's viral breaking performance at 2024 Breaking, more commonly known as breakdancing, made its debut as an Olympic sport this week at the 2024 Paris Games, with 17 B-girls and 16 B-boys making their way to France with the hopes of ... It Ends with Us (2024) It Ends with Us: Directed by Justin Baldoni. With Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, Jenny Slate, Brandon Sklenar. Adapted from the Colleen Hoover novel, Lily overcomes a traumatic childhood to embark on a new life. A chance meeting with a neurosurgeon sparks a connection but Lily begins to see sides of him that remind her of her parents' relationship. SDG Reviews 'Fatima,' a Compelling, Visually Lush Religious Drama Those issues aside, Fátima is easily the most compelling dramatization of the Fátima story to date and fills a long-felt need in the world of religious cinema. It's sturdy enough to hold up to ... 'Cuckoo' Review: Never Has a Movie Been More Aptly Named Shooting on 35-millimeter film, Paul Faltz, backed by Simon Waskow's whining, fidgety score, leans into the surreality of Gretchen's predicament with bizarre close-ups. Upcoming New Disney and Pixar Movies: 2024 Release Dates and Beyond Disney's 100th anniversary may be over, but the studio and its sister company, Pixar, still have a handful of films coming out in 2024 and beyond. Aside from films by Marvel, 20th Century Fox ... Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (2024) Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Directed by Jeff Fowler. With Ben Schwartz, Colleen O'Shaughnessey, Idris Elba, Keanu Reeves. Plot under wraps. Cuckoo (2024) Cuckoo: Directed by Tilman Singer. With Hunter Schafer, Jan Bluthardt, Marton Csokas, Jessica Henwick. A 17-year-old girl is forced to move with her family to a resort where things are not what they seem. essay homework paper phd project resume review speech study