The Truman Show (1998)
Peter Weirs best film is chiefly (and rightfully) remembered for being a prophetic satire of reality television. But it is also an intriguing take on the relationship between the free will of Mankind and any form of pre-determinism, which co-exist uneasily in a spiritual relationship.
Jim Carreys discovery that much of his world is a sham is a much a journey of spiritual discovery as a Pirandello-esque comedy. That, and
Ed Harris makes for one intriguingly creepy God.
The War of the Worlds (1953)
Byron Haskins adaptation of
H. G. Wells novel has much the same attitude to God as Cecil B. De Mille God turns up at the last minute to explain and excuse all the carnage and horror that has gone before. Having come to the most anticlimactic ending in science fiction, Haskin rubs it in further by claiming that God was on the case all along, having created the bacteria which did for the Martians. Its an offensive bolt-on, but it does fulfil the criteria of this list as a wildcard entry.
Tommy (1975)
Ken Russell has made his fair share of messianic or religious films The Devils, Lisztomania and of course
Tommy, his bonkers take on The Whos first rock opera which also stars the band. Though parts of it have dated very badly, the film is on the money in probing the concept of human messiahs and how easily the (human) ideals of enlightenment are corrupted by greed and impatience. With the new religion he created in tatters by the end, Tommy gains a new enlightenment, as the film ends with him holding out his arms to embrace the rising sun.
Total Recall (1990)
Paul Verhoevens second entry on this list ends with some startling Biblical imagery. Verhoeven has long aimed to make a film about the life of Jesus, and the ending of
Total Recall as is epic as anything in
The Ten Commandments. The sight of a mountain erupting with life-giving oxygen and the liberation of the Martian mutant underclass are clear uses of Christian imagery, as are the positioning of
Arnold Schwarzenegger and
Rachel Ticotin as the new Adam and Eve. One suspects that this kind of spirituality will be absent from the remake starring Kate Underworld Beckinsale.
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Being based on Chris Markers short film La Jetee and borrowing heavily from Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse Five,
Terry Gilliams 1990s masterpiece is a bleakly comic and fatalistic work of science fiction. But like The Man Who Fell to Earth, it also entertains the idea of Jesus as the reluctant messiah, who is tempted away from his mission by the lures of this world. The closing sequence in the airport is a masterful piece of storytelling in which fate and free will fatally collide.