Christian Movie Season Is Here. And It Looks Crowded.

Movies go in seasons. And those seasons, like winter in New Hampshire, tend to come early.

The summer movie season usually begins the first week of May. The Christmas movie season might touch off right after Halloween. And right now—even though the calendar still says that it’s winter, faith-based films are beginning to bloom.

That’s right: It’s Christian movie season.

It’s part of a natural entertainment cycle, really. With big blockbusters in hibernation and with plenty of moviegoers looking for something to see, early spring feels ripe for off-center offerings: quirky indie films, low-budget horror flicks and some down-the-shelf action pics make their way to the theater. But with Lent just days away and Easter looming large, many moviegoers are more mindful of their faith, too. And that makes this time of year particularly fertile ground for faith-based films.

And boy, are there are a lot of Christian films vying for the faithful’s attention.

The Unbreakable Boy kicked off the Christian movie season. Released Feb. 21, this very sweet little film stars Shazam’s Zachary Levi. While it didn’t set the entertainment world ablaze, I liked it a lot. Most people who saw it agreed with me.

But that’s just the start. Look at what’s rolling out, beginning this weekend.

No Address (Feb. 28)

This weekend, Fathom unleashes the timely No Address. The faith-centric film takes on the issue of homelessness—reminding its audience that poverty and destitution is the product of bad luck as much as it can be about bad decisions. And whatever the circumstances, we need to remember that everyone we see on the street—no matter how they look or act—is made in the image of God, and thus worthy of our compassion and respect.

I haven’t seen this film, but I certainly like the heart behind it.

Rule Breakers (March 7)

Rule Breakers squeaks into this list on a bit of a technicality. Made by the faith-based company Angel Studios, Rule Breakers is not, really, a faith-based movie. But it is an inspirational one.

It’s based on the true story of Roya Mahboob, an Afghan woman who founded the Afghan Girls Robotic Team. Not easy, that. Though the film takes place when the United States still had a strong presence in Afghanistan, the Taliban was incredibly influential: The idea of girls or women even being allowed to touch was an anathema to the country’s conservative Muslim leaders, much less design and program robots. Rule Breakers chronicles Mahboob’s and her team’s efforts to compete at an international robotics competition.

The Last Supper (March 14)

Jesus’ final meal with His disciples gets two film treatments this year. The first, The Last Supper, is directed by Mauro Borrelli and featuring Christian singer/songwriter Chris Tomlin as an executive producer. The name is a bit misleading: The film begins with Jesus feeding the 5,000 (when all he had to work with was five loaves of bread and two fish), skips to his triumphal entry into Jerusalem and continues through the Resurrection.

But the film’s main focus isn’t as much Jesus as it is three supporting characters: Peter, Judas and Caiaphas, the high priest of Israel. James Faulkner, who played the title character in Paul, Apostle of Christ, is particularly riveting as Caiaphas, and I appreciated the film’s focus on he and Judas—two characters who saw themselves as heroes, but whose personal demons (and the literal devil) got in the way.

The Chosen: The Last Supper (beginning March 27)

The Chosen series is probably the biggest thing to hit Christian entertainment since VeggieTales. Such is its popularity that it’s now rolling its seasons out on the big screen before it lands on television. But as Jesus (played powerfully by Jonathan Roumie) enters his final days, we know The Chosen is also winding down.

Season 5, dubbed The Last Supper, takes us through Jesus’ five days in Jerusalem, beginning with his triumphant entry into the City of David to (of course) the Last Supper. The shows will be released in three installments, the first of which will hit theaters on March 27. The two others will be released April 3 and April 10, respectively.

The King of Kings (April 11)

Christian entertainment has often used animation as a conduit for its stories. In April, we’ll see that relationship continue with Angel Studio’s promising-looking The King of Kings. It’s a story-within-a-story, actually. It’s based on The Life of Our Lord, a story that author Charles Dickens wrote for his kids.

The movie has a star-studded voice cast: Kenneth Branagh, Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan, Forest Whitaker and Mark Hamill all lend their talents to the tale. This is one I’m quite interested to see.

Fans of faith-based movies will definitely have plenty of films to choose from in the weeks leading up to Easter. And rumor has it that next spring, Mel Gibson may unveil his sequel to The Passion of the Christ. So we’ll stay tuned for that, as well.