Love + War,
2025
Martin Luther University College, Waterloo, ON
Love + War, Sherry Coman
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Love + War (2025), directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin.
The Testament Of Ann Lee,
2025
Martin Luther University College, Waterloo, ON
The Testament Of Ann Lee, Sherry Coman
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of The Testament of Ann Lee (2025), directed by Mona Fastvold.
Sink,
2025
Martin Luther University College, Waterloo, ON
Sink, Sherry Coman
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Sink (2025), directed by Zain Duarte.
Julian,
2025
Martin Luther University College, Waterloo, ON
Julian, Sherry Coman
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Julian (2025), directed by Cato Kusters.
Oca,
2025
Martin Luther University College, Waterloo, ON
Oca, Sherry Coman
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Oca (2025), directed by Karla Badillo.
Blue Moon,
2025
Martin Luther University College, Waterloo, ON
Blue Moon, Sherry Coman
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Blue Moon (2025), directed by Richard Linklater.
Nouvelle Vague,
2025
Martin Luther University College, Waterloo, ON
Nouvelle Vague, Sherry Coman
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Nouvelle Vague (2025), directed by Richard Linklater.
Quasi-Feminism And Identity Exploration In The Film Laapata Ladies,
2025
Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi
Quasi-Feminism And Identity Exploration In The Film Laapata Ladies, Dr. Bharat Dhiman, Nausheen Khan
Journal of Religion & Film
The film Laapata Ladies (2024), directed by Kiran Rao, is a social commentary revolving around misogyny and the socio-cultural barriers faced by women in rural India, serving as a brilliant ode to womanhood and conveying its message effectively without any melodrama, thereby reflecting social realities at a ground level. The film explores the protagonists’ inner dilemmas, constraints, struggles, and hardships, advocating the cause for inclusivity from a quasi-feminist perspective, poignantly urging us to re-examine our perspectives and stirring conversations around the need for women to establish their own identities, away from the standard kaleidoscope of the male gaze.
28 Years Later,
2025
Washburn University
28 Years Later, Dennis Etzel Jr
Journal of Religion & Film
In 28 Years Later, Alex Garland creates another screenplay of mythological elements based on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and archetypal characters. The family unit of son, mother, and father are examined alongside the two Hero's Journeys the son Spike takes--a false one and a true one. Ultimately, the positive trickster of the scientist-priest sage represents the example using rituals of being human in a chaotic world.
Sinners,
2025
University of Nebraska Omaha
Sinners, John C. Lyden
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a film review of Sinners (2025), directed by Ryan Coogler.
Iranian Culture In Bahram Beyzaie’S Cinema And Theatre: Paradigms Of Being And Belonging (1959-79),
2025
University of Oregon
Iranian Culture In Bahram Beyzaie’S Cinema And Theatre: Paradigms Of Being And Belonging (1959-79), Hessam Abedini
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a book review of Saeed Talajooy, Iranian Culture in Bahram Beyzaie’s Cinema and Theatre: Paradigms of Being and Belonging (1959-79) (London: I.B. Tauris, 2023)
Subjectivity And Decolonisation In The Post-Independence Novel And Film,
2025
Brigham Young University
Subjectivity And Decolonisation In The Post-Independence Novel And Film, Heather Bigley
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a book review of Sarah Jilani, Subjectivity and Decolonisation in the Post-Independence Novel and Film (Edinburgh University Press, 2024).
Cinema Illuminating Reality: Media Philosophy Through Buddhism,
2025
Singapore Management University
Cinema Illuminating Reality: Media Philosophy Through Buddhism, Teng-Kuan Ng
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a book review of Victor Fan, Cinema Illuminating Reality: Media Philosophy through Buddhism (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2022)
Transnational Horror: Folklore, Genre, And Cultural Politics,
2025
St. Lawrence University
Transnational Horror: Folklore, Genre, And Cultural Politics, Damon T. Berry
Journal of Religion & Film
This is a book review of Cüneyt Çakırlar, ed. Transnational Horror: Folklore, Genre, and Cultural Politics (Liverpool, 2025)
Mapping Muslimness In Hindi Cinema,
2025
University of East Anglia
Mapping Muslimness In Hindi Cinema, Syed Haider
Journal of Religion & Film
This essay reviews two books: Nadira Khatun, Postcolonial Bollywood and Muslim Identity: Production, Representation, and Reception (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024), and Mohammed Asim Siddiqui, Muslim Identity in Hindi Cinema (New York: Routledge, 2025).
Lived Islam In Films: Faith-Based Resilient Responses Of Syrian Refugees,
2025
Virginia Tech
Lived Islam In Films: Faith-Based Resilient Responses Of Syrian Refugees, Jumana S. Al-Ahmad
Journal of Religion & Film
This article provides educators in fields such as Middle Eastern studies, refugee studies, cultural and Islamic studies with a framework from documentaries to challenge stereotypes about Muslim refugees and migrants. Using the framework of lived Islam, the article explores how Syrian Muslim migrants, as seen in documentaries, draw on their faith to build resilience that enables them to continue striving for better lives. Resilience is defined as the ability to overcome challenges and catastrophes, envision solutions, and lead a purposeful life. This article conceptualizes resilience not only as a personal trait but also as a collective tool for survival and …
Monstrous Girls And Celestial Lovers: Fantasy, Fear, And Female Adolescence In The Malayalam Films Ennu Swantham Janakikutty And Njan Gandharvan,
2025
Metropolitan State University of Denver
Monstrous Girls And Celestial Lovers: Fantasy, Fear, And Female Adolescence In The Malayalam Films Ennu Swantham Janakikutty And Njan Gandharvan, Helena Reddington
Journal of Religion & Film
The Malayalam films Ennu Swantham Janakikutty and Njan Gandharvan reimagine figures from Kerala folklore, namely the Yakṣi and the Gandharva, within coming-of-age narratives. Both films position the characters of the Yakṣi and the Gandharva as fantastical figures who usher the young female protagonist into maturity. Rather than offering a pan-Hindu survey, this study focuses specifically on Kerala’s unique reimaginings of these celestial beings, where these figures carry distinct cultural meanings. This interpretive analysis is situated at the intersection of film studies, religious studies, as well as gender and sexuality studies, drawing particularly on feminist theory and critical approaches to vernacular …
Women’S Bonds And Chance Encounters: An Analogical Reading Of The Book Of Ruth And Joshua Marston’S Film Maria Full Of Grace,
2025
Huron University & King's University College at Western University
Women’S Bonds And Chance Encounters: An Analogical Reading Of The Book Of Ruth And Joshua Marston’S Film Maria Full Of Grace, Luigi De Angelis Soriano
Journal of Religion & Film
This article offers an analogical reading of the biblical book of Ruth and Joshua Marston’s 2004 film Maria Full of Grace, examining how both narratives portray migrant women who form strategic social bonds to navigate precariousness within limiting power structures. While Ruth and María inhabit vastly different cultural and historical contexts, their stories meet in their emphasis on female solidarity and human agency. Focusing on key verses from Ruth and pivotal scenes from Maria Full of Grace, this study highlights how emotional and ethical relationships among women—whether covenantal or born of desperation—become sources of strength in the absence …
The Secular Eschatology Of Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood,
2025
Concordia Seminary, St. Louis
The Secular Eschatology Of Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood, Timothy Winterstein
Journal of Religion & Film
This article considers the ending of Quentin Tarantino's 2019 film Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood in light of Christian eschatology. I argue that Tarantino gives us an image of a temporal, partial eschatological moment, which relates to and interacts with a scriptural, Christian perspective on hope and the universal human longing for things to be other than what they are.
Hermeneutical Priming And Linguistic Hijacking In The God’S Not Dead Series,
2025
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Hermeneutical Priming And Linguistic Hijacking In The God’S Not Dead Series, Brant Entrekin
Journal of Religion & Film
In this paper, I analyze the evangelical Christian film series God's Not Dead. I argue that the film series functions as Christian Nationalist propaganda through its rhetoric and aesthetic choices. I then develop two forms of epistemic manipulation that the film uses to fulfill its propagandistic function: hermeneutical priming and linguistic hijacking. I suggest that the film series' use of these rhetorical strategies highlights some of the ways that evangelical Christian cinema is engaging with rising right-wing political movements and developing unique evangelical imaginations.
