🎬 Hit play… and let yourself be challenged. Welcome!
Can a film help you discover your vocation? Make you laugh until you cry? Change the way you live the Eucharist, or help you better understand a news story that’s been in the media these days?
I think so. By the way, I’m Fray Alfonso Dávila, an Augustinian Recollect, and within the Order of Augustinian Recollects I work in communications. My day-to-day is about telling stories, bringing the Church’s current events closer, and sharing the beauty of the Gospel through the media.
But besides communication, there’s another passion that’s been with me for many years: cinema.
I’ve always thought a good film can become a real school of humanity. It can ask us questions we’d never considered, help us understand others better, awaken our faith, or simply give us a great conversation with friends. That’s why I’ve decided to open this little space.
We live surrounded by streaming platforms with thousands of titles. And yet, finding a good film that’s truly worth it isn’t always easy. That’s why Meaningful Cinema was born, a new section of JAR International where, every two weeks, I’ll share five films that, for one reason or another, I think are worth discovering.
Don’t expect only religious films. There will be classics, documentaries, animated films, comedies, historical cinema, and great stories that leave a mark. The only requirement is that they’re films that help us live a little better.
Every two weeks I’ll bring you five recommendations, each with a different intention:
🌱 A film to help you grow, because it conveys a human or Christian value worth discovering.
😂 A film to make you laugh, because joy is also a gift from God.
🤝 A film to watch in community, the kind that doesn’t end when the credits roll, but when the dialogue begins.
❤️ A film to feel, able to touch the heart and help us look at life more deeply.
🌍 A film to understand the world, to help us better understand a historical event or a reality that’s still in the news today.
So… get the popcorn ready. Let’s begin.
🌱 A film to help you grow
All or Nothing! The Story of Sister Clare Crockett (2018)
Some films entertain. Others move you. And some have the power to change the way you look at your own life. For me, this documentary belongs to that small group.
Sister Clare Crockett wasn’t a superhero or a holy-card saint. Although the other day in Bogotá I did come across a prayer card of her. She was a young Irish woman with talent, dreams, and a promising future in show business. And yet, an unexpected encounter with God completely changed the course of her life.
Her story isn’t about someone who stopped living, but about someone who finally discovered what she wanted to live for.
The line that marked me most in the documentary was a simple prayer: “Help me to return your love.”
Ever since I heard it, it’s become one of the questions I ask most often in my prayer. After watching it, another inevitable question will probably come up: And why not…?
Or maybe an even more important one: Who am I for?
And if that question is born in your heart, remember that at Inquietar you’ll always find a place to talk it through with someone 😜.
📺 Available for free on YouTube.
To challenge you: If God changed your plans today, would you have the courage to say yes?
😂 A film to make you laugh
The Detective Sheep (2026)
Laughing is also a gift from God. This film starts from a completely outrageous idea: every night a shepherd reads a detective novel to his sheep… until they start investigating on their own.
The result is a smart comedy, full of little details and absurdly funny situations. It had been a long time since I’d laughed so much watching a film.
If you need to switch off, rest, or simply have a good time, this is a safe bet. It had me laughing the whole time… maybe the problem is me 😂.
📺 Available on Prime Video.
To challenge you: How long has it been since you treated yourself to an afternoon just to enjoy and laugh?
🤝 A film to watch in community
Babette’s Feast (1987)
I’m going to apologize before I start. When you finish it, you might think: Why did he recommend this film to me? I only ask that you don’t hate me—there’s an explanation for everything.
If you watch it slowly and then talk about it with your community, you’ll discover why it’s one of cinema’s great masterpieces. It was the first film explicitly cited in a pontifical document, and Pope Francis mentioned it again in Amoris Laetitia.
Babette arrives as a cook in a small community marked by austerity and the wounds of the past. Little by little, a banquet will transform much more than a table.
It’s a deeply Eucharistic film. Not because it explicitly talks about Mass, but because it speaks of gift, gratuity, reconciliation, and the joy of sharing.
That’s why it’s worth watching in a group. Afterwards, talk. Ask yourselves how you live the Eucharist—whether it really is the great banquet to which Christ continues to invite everyone.
📺 Available on YouTube and Prime Video.
To challenge you: Do I go to the Eucharist out of habit… or because I truly desire to meet Christ?
❤️ A film to feel
Up (2009)
You’ve probably already seen it. But maybe you’ve never really seen it.
Up begins with one of the most moving openings in cinema history and then gives us an adventure full of humor, tenderness, and hope.
Carl Fredricksen is an elderly man who has decided to shut himself away after losing the love of his life. Russell, a boy as persistent as he is lovable, shows up to remind him that it’s never too late to love again.
It’s a film about grief. About older people. About friendship between completely different people. And about how love always finds unexpected paths.
📺 Available on Disney+.
To challenge you: Do you know someone who needs someone to knock on the door of their heart again?
🌍 A film to understand the world
Paul VI, a Pope in the Storm (2008)
These days, Church current events have once again put the spotlight on the conflict with some sectors linked to Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. To understand why this issue remains relevant almost four decades later, it’s worth looking back.
Paul VI, a Pope in the Storm places us in the years after the Second Vatican Council, a period marked by profound transformations, internal tensions, and the difficult challenge of maintaining communion in the Church.
Getting to know the figure of St. Paul VI helps us better understand not only that historical moment, but also many of the news stories that still appear today on this topic.
It’s a film especially recommended for anyone who wants to understand the Church’s recent history with a calm, contextualized perspective.
📺 Available for free on YouTube.
To challenge you: Do I pray for the unity of the Church even when I don’t understand everything it is going through?
See you in two weeks…
I hope one of these five films surprises you, moves you, or helps you discover something new. And now it’s your turn.
When you watch one, tell us on JAR International’s social media. I’d love to know which one you watched, what you thought, which one you’d recommend… and even which one you’d never recommend to anyone again. Cinema is also enjoyed through conversation.
We’ll read each other in two weeks, with a new installment of Meaningful Cinema.
Until then… may you never be without a good story that helps you look at life with more hope. 🎬
