Diary of a Country Priest
Recommended. Age: 13+. A Catholic review of this movie for parents.
Our review
Bresson's film is about grace working through weakness. The priest fails by every human measure. He is mocked, slandered, and dying, and yet God uses him to break open a countess's hardened heart. His last words, all is grace, are the whole Gospel in three words. One reservation: the ending can sound as if the sacraments do not matter. They do, and the film knows it.
For parents
Best for teens and up; slow, black and white, subtitled, and worth it. Ask: why does the priest keep going when nothing works? Discuss the dying priest's wish for absolution and how perfect contrition joins to the sacrament (CCC 1452). Note an implied affair and a possible suicide.