Watchlist: 40 Titles to Stream This Easter Season
This year, Lent commenced on March 5th, with Ash Wednesday. With just forty days to anticipate Easter, now is the time to put faith in focus in your family’s viewing habits, with entertainment without compromise! Check out these forty thoughtful titles to revisit together in the weeks leading up to Easter:
STORIES OF SERVICE
Where better to start on an Easter lineup than with movies and series dedicated to service? 5000 Blankets, Eleanor’s Bench, Divine Influencer and County Rescue highlight dedicated individuals, charitably giving back in familiar smalltown communities. Meanwhile, Disciples in the Moonlight (starring Brett Varvel of County Rescue and Todd Terry of Vindication) explores a dystopian future in which faith is under fire – and what a fight for religious freedom might entail. If you are looking for more realism and drama, military titles like Indivisible, We Are Stronger, and My Brother’s Keeper tackle the theme of returning to God, family, and country, when the fight is over, but battle scars remain.
TALES OF FAITH AND LOVE
The Easter season highlights God’s love for us, so stories of love should feature this spring. Candace Cameron Bure’s presentation – Just in Time – tops this list, encompassing themes of redemption, hope, and family at Easter time. Similarly, titles like Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, The Engagement Plan, and Learning to Love tackle familial love from a faith perspective, all while keeping in the confines of a romcom setting. Where Hope Grows (with Kristoffer Polaha and Danica McKellar) and Play the Flute (Brett Varvel) exhibit the power of another type of love – care for friends and newfound community. Rounding out the list are three thought provoking movies, Someone Like You, Like Arrows, and An Unlikely Angel, which pose questions of faith around romance, coming of age, and unexpected family dynamics.
BIBLICAL FAVORITES
Stories from both the Old and New Testaments deserve a place in this line up and can present an educational opportunity for families with older children. 47 Days with Jesus is a great place to begin, cutting away between biblical times and the modern day. Some stories pulled from the Old Testament would include Esther (starring none other than Jen Lilley), Samson, and The Book of Daniel. These titles bring to life biblical tales of strength, resilience, and compassion that can serve as powerful tools for instigating discussion for audiences of appropriate age. From the New Testament, The Two Thieves (starring Jonathan Roumie of The Chosen) is a story of grace. The short film does center on Jesus’s moments on the cross, alongside the two criminals punished beside him. While this is a story that can spur discussion, again parental discretion is encouraged. Come Unto Me, Full of Grace, and Apostle Peter and the Last Supper complete this group sourced from the New Testament – movies which will feel increasingly timely as Palm Sunday draws near.
CHILDREN'S CLASSICS
The Easter season is a wonderful time to introduce your younger children to the significance of springtime – it is about more than just baskets and bunnies! That said, Easter-themed Veggie Tales specials like An Easter Carol, Twas the Night Before Easter, and Rack, Shack, and Bennie keep the cuteness while also giving your little ones a taste of notable bible moments (for beginners!). Old Testament tales are available too, described in options like Esther: The Girl Who Became Queen and King George and the Ducky. Additional kids’ programs to check out ahead of Easter Sunday include Superbook and Bibleman, which similarly encourage youngsters to engage with stories inspired by the bible. Any of these titles are suitable viewing for any member of the family.
STORIES OF REDEMPTION
Finally, no Easter roundup could be complete without stories that explore the deepest questions of faith. In the Case for Christ and God’s Not Dead, leading characters are forced to confront evidence for the divine they have previously disregarded. C.S. Lewis’s documentary, Through the Shadowlands, explores another type of confrontation between man and God – when the author poses a question to the Lord of how to go on after the loss of his beloved. Finding Faith and Like Dandelion Dust feature a prominent return to God, even following tragedy and heartache. Finally, stories like An Interview with God, The Case for Heaven, and Letters to God, remind us of the direct communication available to us if we open our hearts to God’s messages and promises.
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