Fatima

Depending on your faith levels, your mileage will vary, but 'Fatima' is a handsomely filmed and respectful retelling of a true story, one that sees people still flocking to the site each year, over 100 years later, to try and see what those children saw.

• Jake Watt

Read Jake's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-fatima-a-respectful-retelling-of-a-miraculous-story

Faith-based films are a very iffy genre. You can rarely fault the film makers for having their hearts in the right place, but on the other hand, many of those films are unwatchable. Many mainstream viewers dismiss Christian films, or any film they don't agree with, without seeing the work- or they review the beliefs and politics behind the film instead of the film itself, turning to personal insults of critics and audiences who give a film a chance (totally speaking from personal experience). Some Christians do likewise with films that offend their faith. "Fatima" is not a perfect film, but the story of the three children who saw the Virgin Mary in 1917 Portugal is obviously a lasting one.

Lucia (Stephaine Gil) and her cousins Jacinta (Alejandra Howard) and Francisco (Jorge Lamelas) are living during the Great War. Lucia and her mother (Lucia Moniz) await news about their brother and son, who is off fighting in a distant land. The town is overseen by a non-believing mayor (Goran Visnjic), who solemnly reads the names out loud in the town square of the area men who are killed or missing. The three children encounter an angel (Ivone Fernandes-Jesus), who tells them to pray for peace and to expect another visitation. While tending to their sheep, they encounter a mysterious woman (Joana Ribeiro) only they can see, and who visits them monthly. She tells them to pray for peace, stop insulting God, and gives Lucia three secret messages about the future which she shouldn't share with anyone. The children's story is bookended by a non-believing professor (Harvey Keitel) interviewing an adult Sister Lucia (Sonia Braga), a nun who still believes what she saw decades earlier.

I don't think you need to be Catholic to get something out of the film. So many parallels can be made between World War I-era Portugal and today. The film makers are very even-handed in their portrayals of Christians and non-Christians. The town mayor's wife is a believer. The local pr...