May 31: Of Gods and Men — PG-13 • 2h 2m SUBTITLED
Based on true events, a community of French Trappist monks living in peaceful harmony with their Muslim neighbors in 1990s Algeria must decide whether to stay or flee as civil war and fundamentalist violence close in on their monastery. Their deliberations become a profound meditation on vocation, fear, and love of neighbor.
Content note: Rated PG-13 for a momentary scene of startling wartime violence, some disturbing images, and brief language.
June 14: The Philadelphia Eleven — Not Rated (2023 documentary) • 1h 22m
In 1974, eleven women were “irregularly” ordained as Episcopal priests at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia in an act of faithful civil disobedience that forced the church to change. This documentary introduces the women themselves and traces the backlash, harassment, and ultimate victory that followed.
Content note: No MPAA rating; generally suitable for teens and up. Themes include institutional sexism, harassment, and threats.
June 28: The Truman Show — PG • 1h 43m
Jim Carrey plays Truman Burbank, an ordinary insurance salesman who slowly begins to suspect that his entire life — his wife, his town, even the sky — is a constructed television set broadcast to the world. The film poses sly, searching questions about authenticity, free will, and the “creator” behind our reality.
Content note: Rated PG for thematic elements and mild language; some suspenseful scenes of peril.
July 19: The Tree of Life — PG-13 • 2h 19m
Terrence Malick’s sweeping, poetic film interweaves the story of a 1950s Texas family — an angry father, a grace-filled mother, three sons — with imagery of the origins of the universe itself. It’s less a conventional narrative than a cinematic prayer about nature, grace, suffering, and what it means to live a human life.
Content note: Rated PG-13 for some thematic material; includes a child’s death, harsh parenting/mild domestic tension, and brief non-sexual/suggestive imagery.
August 2: Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery — PG-13 • 2h 20m
The third Benoit Blanc mystery sends the detective to a small upstate New York Catholic parish, where a domineering monsignor turns up dead during Easter mass and a young, earnest priest is the obvious suspect. Writer-director Rian Johnson, drawing on his own evangelical upbringing, makes this the most spiritually thoughtful entry in the series.
Content note: Rated PG-13 for violent content, bloody images, strong language, some crude sexual material, and smoking. The language and recurring confessional-booth sexual humor are notably stronger than the previous two Knives Out films.