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The best Christian movies on Netflix (January 2022)

Christian movies Netflix
Come Sunday and Soul Surfer as Christian movies on Netflix. Pic credit: Netflix/Sony

There are not a lot of movies out there for Christians to watch that have a faith-based message.

However, when turning on Netflix, feel secure that there are plenty of choices here for Christian viewers.

From movies that are inspirational to those that have a stronger message to deliver, there is a faith-based movie here for all Christians.

Updated in January 2022: Every month, Netflix deletes movies from its streaming service when contracts expire. The good news is that Netflix also had plenty of great movies to replace them.

Bookmark this page, as we will update this article every month to remove the films that drop off and add great new Christian movies you can enjoy every month.

Soul Surfer (2011)

Soul Surfer (2011)
AnnaSophia Robb in Soul Surfer. Pic credit: Sony

Soul Surfer is the most famous Christian movie on Netflix, a former big-screen movie success from Sony.

AnnaSophia Robb (Bridge to Terabithia) stars as real-life surfing legend Bethany Hamilton, a woman who lost her arm in a shark attack. Despite this setback, Hamilton is a born again Christian and put her life in God’s hands, not letting anything stop her from reaching her dreams.

Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt co-star in the movie as Bethany’s parents, while Kevin Sorbo, Craig T. Nelson, and Carrie Underwood also have roles.

Fatima (2020)

The faith-based movie Fatima
The faith-based movie Fatima. Pic credit: Picturehouse

Released in 2020 by Picturehouse, Fatima is a religious faith-based movie based on the events at the 1917 Our Lady of Fatima.

In the movie, a 10-year-old shepherd and her two young cousins claimed they received apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Fatima in 1917.

People are inspired by their visions, but the Catholic Church reacts in anger to the claims, and the secular government joins the Church in demanding the children recant their story.

However, news of their story causes tens of thousands of religious pilgrims to flock to the site they said the visions happened.

Same Kind of Different As Me

Same Kind of Different As Me
Greg Kinnear and Djimon Hounsou in Same Kind of Different As Me. Pic credit: Paramount

Based on the 2006 book of the same name, Same Kind of Different As Me is a Christian movie about a homeless man who meets a man volunteering at a shelter.

The two men then change each other’s lives.

Greg Kinnear is Ron, a man who cheated on his wife and admitted his indiscretions. She offers him a second chance but asks him to volunteer at the local homeless shelter she works with.

When the two see a violent man there (Djimon Hounsou), Ron sets out to befriend him, and the two strike up a relationship. The man, Denver, opens up to the couple about his past and how he ended up homeless.

When Ron’s wife learns she has cancer, he and Denver bond further and the two men change each other’s lives.

Holy Expectations

Holy Expectations
Holy Expectations. Pic credit: Netflix

Holy Expectations is a Netflix faith-based movie about a young girl who has a short life expectancy.

As a result, she uses her faith and imagination to work through her struggles and create new stories that help impact people’s lives around her.

This is something that any Christian who loves musical comedies should watch because it presents the nativity with great humor and is something perfect for younger faith-based crowds.

The Resurrection of Gavin Stone (2017)

The Resurrection of Gavin Stone
The Resurrection of Gavin Stone. Pic credit: WWE Studios

Gavin Stone is a washed-up, partied-out former child star who is forced to return home.

When there, he decided he will fake being a Christian so he can play Jesus in an Easter play put on by a megachurch.

Brett Dalton (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) stars as Gavin Stone. Also featuring in the movie is WWE superstar Shawn Michaels. The movie is faith-based but is also a comedy with a good message.

Voices of Fire (2020)

Voices of Fire (2020)
Voices of Fire (2020). Pic credit: Netflix

Voices of Fire is a Netflix musical gospel documentary series that focuses on Pharrell Williams and his uncle, Bishop Ezekiel Williams.

They travel to Parrell’s hometown of Hampton Roads, Virginia, to try to find singers to build a world-class gospel choir.

This is a six-episode series released in 2020.

Mary Magdaline (2018)

Mary Magdalene (2018)
Mary Magdalene (2018), Pic credit: IFC Films

Mary Magdalene is a 2018 biblical drama film about the Biblical character.

The movie stars Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) as Mary, while Joaquin Phoenix stars as Jesus Christ and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peter.

The movie focuses on Mary’s relationship with Jesus and how it conflicted the disciples. It goes all the way to the crucifixion and the resurrection.

God Calling (2018)

God Calling (2018)
The cast of God Calling (2018). Pic credit: Silverbird Distribution

God Calling is a Nigerian movie from 2018 that is not only on Netflix but was featured in CNN African Voices.

This is a film that wants to tell us that God has a plan for every life, no matter how bad. The movie is about the aftermath of a death, a dramatic film born from tragedy.

A young couple loses its only child and spirals into despair. The husband seeks help in the arm of a female colleague while his wife, Sade, falls into a depression.

Nothing to Lose (2018)

Nothing to Lose (2018)
Petrônio Gontijo as Edir Macedo in Nothing to Lose. Pic credit: Swen Releasing

Nothing to Lose is a self-financed biopic of Edir Macedo, the Brazilian bishop that founded the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and who is the owner of the Record TV network.

Edir preached the gospel in parks and on street corners while practicing direct Christianity by caring for the homeless.

However, he found enemies in the Brazilian government and the Catholic Church and he eventually went to jail on charges of money laundering and other infractions.

This movie tells his story, from his point-of-view, from his rise as a preacher to his battles with what is portrayed here as corrupt government forces acting on behalf of the Catholic officials.

Greater (2016)

Greater (2016)
The Christian movie Greater. Pic credit: Hammond Entertainment

Greater is another religious inspirational sports movie.

This movie is a biopic of Brandon Burlsworth, a former walk-on for the Arkansas Razorbacks football team that went on to become an All-American.

He ended up drafted by the Indianapolis Colts, but he died in a car accident 11 days later. This is not a spoiler, as the movie starts with his funeral and his older brother’s anger at God for allowing this to happen.

The movie then traces Brandon’s journey from walk on to superstar, a man who inspired everyone around him.

The Young Messiah (2016)

The Young Messiah (2016)
The Young Messiah (2016). Pic credit: Focus Features

Based on a novel by Anne Rice, The Young Messiah tells the story of Jesus Christ when he was seven years old.

Following King Herod’s death, his family is moving from Egypt back home to Nazareth, where they originally fled to when Herod ordered the death of all children.

What they don’t know is that Herod’s son also wants the young Jesus dead.

The film then shows the story from the child Jesus’s point of view. Mary and Joseph have not told him about his birth or his role as the Savior. He then grows into the religious identity that would define him.

Faith Hope & Love (2019)

Faith Hope & Love (2019)
Peta Murgatroyd and Robert Krantz in Faith, Hope & Love. Pic credit: ArtAffects Entertainment

Faith is a divorcee who owns a dance studio that is going under. She enters into a dance competition to try to save the studio, and while there, she meets a widower named Jimmy Hope.

The movie also has Jimmy as a father of two little girls, and when one of the girls prays to God that Jimmy and Faith will become partners in the contest so she can have a mommy and daddy again, God answers her prayers.

Through Jimmy, Faith rediscovers her own faith and begins to realize her dreams while she teaches him how to love again.

Full Count (2019)

Full Count (2019)
John Paul Kakos in Full Count. Pic credit: Reel One Entertainment

Full Count is a religious sports movie.

Milton Young (John Paul Kakos) is a baseball pitcher who has dreams of playing college and then professional baseball. However, when his dad dies, he has to return to the farm town that he fought so hard to escape and work on his dad’s dying farm.

After his dad’s funeral, he is in an accident and killed a pedesttrian. He ends up in jail for two days and is praying the entire time, and when he gets out and goes home, he sees that his family’s crops have miraculously grown.

There is also an angel who helps him.

Riding Faith (2020)

Riding Faith (2020)
Riding Faith (2020). Pic credit: Vision Films

John Schneider of the Duke’s of Hazzard is back with the faith-based movie Riding Faith.

In this movie, a family ranch faces foreclosure, and mother Rebecca struggles with her daughter Grace after the death of father Mike (that is Schneider’s role).

When the mother sells a horse that was Grace’s last memory of her dad (he bought it for her), the two drift further apart, with Grace losing her faith and her mother struggling to understand why her prayers are not being answered.

Come Sunday (2018)

Come Sunday
Chiwetel Ejiofor in Come Sunday. Pic credit: Netflix

Come Sunday is a Netflix original faith-based Christian film starring Oscar-nominated actor Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave).

This is a movie that is different than other Christian based films released over the past few years. This is a film for more liberal-leaning Christians rather than the evangelical crowd.

Based on the story first reported on This American Life, Come Sunday is about a protege (Ejiofor) of Oral Roberts (played by Martin Sheen) who comes to reject the notion of eternal damnation.

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theknowerseeker
theknowerseeker
3 years ago

I’ve read that Come Sunday promotes Universalism and is thus anti-Christian. In fact, with Netflix publishing such blatantly anti-Christian shows like “Castlevania”, I wouldn’t trust any of their “Christian” shows.

David Addy
David Addy
2 years ago

Thank you for speaking up and I whole heartedly agree. God bless you. Also look at what they call “faith based” The young messiah and mary magdaline. Such blasphemy does not fool true Christians but those on the fence can be swayed by Satan into believing a lie.

pagesixty4
pagesixty4
2 years ago

There are a lot of different ways you can look at this movie and a lot of things you can take away from it. Anyone who knows Jesus as their Lord and Savior and who reads the Bible will immediately see the heretical path this blinded pastor takes. Leaves a lot of room for some good discussion!

Mike
Mike
2 years ago

These are not Christian movies….The Young Messiah? To imply Jesus didn’t know who he was is blasphemy and not consistent with scripture. The list is garbage.

Anonymous
Anonymous
2 years ago
Reply to  Mike

Yup, I agree. Such blasphemy.

pagesixty4
pagesixty4
2 years ago
Reply to  Mike

I stopped watching the movie because it goes against the truths of scripture. Unbelievers may be drawn into the fiction because they don’t know any better.

Bob
Bob
2 years ago

I came here looking for something to watch that has a strong Christian message, something uplifting, and scriptural, but everything that Netflix offers is an affront to Christianity. You can’t call something Christian if it’s not biblical. Otherwise it’s just false Christianity.

David Addy
David Addy
2 years ago
Reply to  Bob

Netflix shouldn’t be supported by true Christians. Faith based films are nothing more than liberal secular humanism in a one size fits all faux religious suit. My wife and I are trying to minister to a family who is “spiritual” but not saved. They said they had Netflix so I looked up the movies here just like you did. Will be looking elsewhere. Take care and stay strong in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Anonymous
Anonymous
2 years ago

Surprisingly this list didn’t include Blue Miracle which is a movie Christians would actually want to watch. I think most of these are a secular take on traditional Christianity, often very offensive to actual Christians.