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“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” (Romans 7:15, 19)
With those words, St. Paul poignantly encapsulates one of the most horrific truths of the human condition: the universality of sin. No matter how holy we are, no matter how much we want to follow Jesus’ command to “be perfect” (Matthew 5:48), we all fall short. We all sin from time to time (and sometimes a bit more often than that!), and for those of us trying to follow Christ, this sad fact is a heavy burden. It makes us want to cry out like Paul himself just a few verses later, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:25). Unsurprisingly, artists of all stripes have tried to capture this harrowing truth in various ways, and for my money, one of the most moving attempts is the classic horror film The Wolf Man. It tells the story of Larry Talbot, a man cursed to roam the streets as a wolf and commit grisly murders when the moon is full, and despite his best efforts, he’s powerless to stop these periodic transformations. It’s an almost perfect allegory for our struggle with sin, and the movie depicts that battle with a heart-breaking honesty few other films have ever achieved. “Even a Man Who Is Pure in Heart” Normally, I’d start this article with a brief overview of the movie’s plot, but I don’t think that’s necessary here. The Wolf Man is a very straightforward werewolf story, so if you’re familiar with basic werewolf lore, you know what this film is about. Instead, I want to begin with a short poem that we hear repeated a number of times throughout the movie: “Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night May become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.” When we first hear these words, their meaning seems clear enough. They tell us that purity of heart doesn’t counteract the werewolf’s curse. If you’ve been bitten by one of these creatures, you’re going to turn into a wolf “when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright,” whether you’re a good person or not. But the next time these verses pop up in The Wolf Man, they take on another, much deeper meaning. There’s a scene where Larry’s father tells his son that the werewolf myth is “an ancient explanation of the dual personality in each of us,” and instead of explaining what this “dual personality” is, he simply recites the poem about a pure man becoming a wolf. For him, these words don’t just mean that the curse can overpower a pure heart. Rather, they tell us that the whole idea of werewolves is a metaphor for our “dual personality.” It’s a stark, horrific representation of our baser nature, our propensity to sin, and no matter how good we may be, each one of us has a dark, sinful side that rears its ugly head every now and then. And in case you’re still not convinced, The Wolf Man eventually pulls back the curtain entirely and makes its message impossible to miss. In the film’s second act, Larry’s father straight up says that werewolves represent “the good and evil in every man’s soul,” and that seals the deal for us. By repeating this idea multiple times, the movie makes it clear that this is in fact its central theme, so the entire story is essentially an allegory for St. Paul’s famous words about the universality of sin. Larry Talbot’s Struggle All that being said, a film can’t get by on its message alone. It also has to bring that message to life in a memorable way, and on that count, The Wolf Man succeeds brilliantly. Once Larry Talbot realizes that he’s a werewolf, the curse causes him untold anguish. Like I said before, the man doesn’t want to turn into a monster and murder people, but he’s completely powerless to stop his nighttime killing sprees. It’s an utterly heartbreaking turn of events, and legendary horror actor Lon Chaney Jr. portrays the character’s torment beautifully. To be fair, his performance can be a bit wooden at times, especially in the early scenes, but once the story really kicks into gear, Chaney is fantastic. Everything about him, from the tone of his voice to his facial expressions, bespeaks a soul in tremendous pain, so you’ll almost feel Larry’s agony yourself. The man practically embodies St. Paul’s cry, “Who will deliver me from this body of death,” so if you’ve ever struggled with sin (and let’s be honest, who hasn’t?), The Wolf Man is sure to resonate with you on a deep level. It’s a poignant metaphor for a cross every Christian has to bear, so despite being over 80 years old, this is still one of the best and most relatable movies the horror genre has ever produced.
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2025 means different things to different people. To wrestling fans, it means a new home for WWE Raw. To sports fans, it means another chance for your favorite team to make a storybook run to a championship. And to Catholics, it means a Jubilee Year, a special celebration that takes place every twenty-five years.
This concept has its roots in the Old Testament–where God commanded the Israelites to periodically set slaves free, return all land to its original owners, and cancel all debts (Leviticus 25:8-13, Deuteronomy 15:1-2)–and in the Church, we mark these momentous years with pilgrimages, special indulgences, and works of mercy. In other words, the Jubilee Year calls us to celebrate God’s mercy and embody His mercy in our daily lives, and as a movie buff, I’d like to examine a film that perfectly encapsulates that idea: Sam Raimi’s 2009 horror comedy Drag Me to Hell. This may not be the first movie that comes to mind when you think of the Jubilee (or anything Catholic, for that matter!), but if you take a close look at its message, you’ll find that the fit is surprisingly snug. The Basic Plot of Drag Me to Hell To get our bearings, let’s start by briefly recapping the basic plot of Drag Me to Hell. The film follows Christine, a young loan officer vying for a promotion. She’s trying to impress her boss and prove that she’s not a pushover, so when she’s approached by Sylvia Ganush, an elderly woman asking for a third extension on her mortgage payment, she makes the wrong call. Mrs. Ganush explains that she recently experienced a few unforeseen medical problems, but before these issues, she never missed a payment. She pleads for mercy and asks for just a little more time to gather some money, and at first, Christine is sympathetic to the poor woman’s plight. But when she brings the case to her boss, she changes her tune. The guy not-so-subtly pressures her to deny the request, and in her desperation to make a good impression, Christine chooses to foreclose on Mrs. Ganush’s house. In response, the elderly woman places a curse on her callous loan officer, and soon afterwards, Christine comes under attack by a terrifying demon known as the Lamia. This creature torments its victims for three days and then drags them to hell (hence the movie’s name!), so as bad as these initial hauntings are, the worst is yet to come. Unsurprisingly, Christine does everything she can to break the curse, but nothing works. When Drag Me to Hell ends, the Lamia emerges from the pits of hell to drag this poor woman to an eternity of fiery torment, and there’s nothing she or her loved ones can do about it. Begging for Mercy At this point, you might be wondering what Drag Me to Hell has to do with the Jubilee Year. God doesn’t miraculously save Christine at the last second, so what could this movie possibly have in common with a celebration of divine mercy? To answer that question, we have to pay close attention to some of Christine’s attempts to free herself from the Lamia’s curse. First, a psychic suggests that a sacrifice might appease the demon, so the woman kills her cat and offers it to the creature. When that doesn’t work, she then attends a seance where a medium asks the Lamia not to carry out its hellish plan, but of course, the entity refuses. It stands firm in its commitment to take her soul when the time comes, and that rejection creates a striking parallel: the Lamia is treating Christine the way she treated Mrs. Ganush. When Mrs. Ganush found herself in a desperate situation, all she could do to prevent the loss of her house was plead for mercy. She literally begged Christine for another extension, and the young loan officer could’ve granted the woman’s request if she wanted to. But she didn’t. Instead, Christine let the rules of foreclosure play out like they normally do, so Mrs. Ganush was forced out of her home. Similarly, Christine is now in a desperate situation herself, and she too asks for clemency. She implores the Lamia to take pity on her and spare her an eternity of misery, but her pleas fall on deaf ears. The demon decides to let the “rules” of its curse play out like they normally do, so Christine ends up getting dragged to hell. The Importance of Mercy With that parallel, Drag Me to Hell tells us in no uncertain terms that Christine was wrong to deny Mrs. Ganush’s request for another extension. Sure, she may have been following the rules, but sometimes we have to abide by a higher standard. As the Church’s recent declaration Dignitas Infinita proclaims, “[e]very human person possesses an infinite dignity,” and that dignity far exceeds the importance of any rules or laws that govern mortgage payments. When people are in need, we have to help them, even if the “rules” don’t require it. And if there’s any doubt about that, Drag Me to Hell hammers the point home in its final scene. When Christine erroneously thinks she’s broken free of the Lamia’s curse, she admits to her boyfriend that she should’ve given Mrs. Ganush another extension. She doesn’t say why, but I find it hard to believe that her experience with the Lamia didn’t influence her admission. Even if only subconsciously, she must’ve realized that she treated Mrs. Ganush just like the Lamia treated her, so the truth about her actions became crystal clear. And once we come to that same realization, the relevance of Drag Me to Hell to this Jubilee Year becomes equally clear. This great celebration of God’s mercy calls us to put His mercy into practice in our own lives, so just like Christine, we too should act compassionately towards those in need. We have to go beyond the bare minimum our earthly rules require and put people’s needs first, and if we don’t already do that, there’s no better time than to start than this wonderful invitation from the Church to enter more deeply into God’s endless mercy. As 2024 gives way to 2025, it’s only natural that we look back at the year’s biggest highlights. Everybody from political commentators to sports pundits to music aficionados has some sort of “best of” list, and as a movie buff, I’d like to spotlight my favorite films of 2024. These were the movies that thrilled me, entertained me, and moved me the most, so without further ado, let’s dive right in.
10) The Substance In the number ten spot, we have The Substance, a film about an aging celebrity who takes a black market drug, the titular substance, to create a younger, sexier version of herself. At first, this seems like the perfect way to relive her glory days, but when the balance between her two lives gets thrown out of whack, it leads to some of the most gruesome body horror in recent memory. The Substance isn’t for the faint of heart, but if you can handle the gross-out special effects, you’ll be treated to one of the best movies of the year. It’s all about the pressures women face from our culture’s impossible beauty standards, and the disgusting horror serves as a stark visual representation of the physical, mental, and emotional harm those intense pressures can inflict on women. It’s a poignant allegory that makes the film just as heartbreaking as it is revolting, so this is more than just an indulgent exercise in gratuitous gore. The Substance is incredibly meaningful as well, and stars Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley bring it to life with a believability and a pathos you won't soon forget. *Caveat emptor: The Substance features a few scenes with provocative sexual content and multiple shots of nonsexual but graphic nudity. 9) Transformers One I know some people who write off Transformers One because it’s animated, and if you fall into that same camp, I strongly urge you to give the movie a chance. It may be hard to believe, but this is the best Transformers film ever made, animated or live-action. It tells the story of how Optimus Prime and Megatron started out as friends but eventually became mortal enemies, and let me tell you, it packs quite the emotional punch. When the movie begins, our main characters are lowly miners named Orion Pax and D-16, and they’ll charm your socks off in about two seconds. This duo is lovable and hilarious in all the best ways, and their chemistry together is second to none. You’ll desperately want their friendship to last forever, so their inevitable falling out will tear your heart to pieces. It’s the kind of bittersweet breakup story that sticks with you long after the credits begin to roll, and it’s brought to life with a copious helping of knee-slapping comedy and spellbinding action. It’s everything a Transformers film should be, so if you haven’t seen Transformers One yet, I highly recommend that you remedy that as soon as possible. 8) A Quiet Place: Day One Horror franchises are infamous for churning out tired sequels well past their expiration date, but so far, the A Quiet Place franchise has managed to avoid that nearly universal curse. The second movie, A Quiet Place Part II, was fantastic, and this latest entry continues that surprising trend. As the title suggests, A Quiet Place: Day One takes us all the way back to the start of this alien invasion, and it follows Sam, a terminally ill cancer patient stuck in Manhattan on that fateful day. At first, she tries to go it alone, but when she meets a man named Eric, the duo form a touching bond that just might leave you an emotional wreck. In typical A Quiet Place fashion, Day One has the fun tension and action we’ve come to expect from the franchise, but the real heart and soul of this film is the characters. Their unlikely friendship explores themes of love (refreshingly, not just the romantic kind!), life, and beauty in a world gone to hell, and if you have any heart at all, those ideas are sure to resonate with you on a deep level. 7) The Devil’s Bath With a name like The Devil’s Bath, you might expect this next movie to be a cheap horror flick about a possessed bathtub, but you’d only be partially right. This is a horror film, but there’s nothing cheap or supernatural about it. Rather, the phrase “devil’s bath” was an 18th-century Austrian idiom that referred to depression, and the movie is a harrowing look at this all-too-common affliction. It follows a newly married woman who descends into a deep depression when her husband starts to ignore her, and the majority of the horror revolves around her deteriorating mental and emotional state. In fact, for most of the film’s runtime, it plays more like a gloomy drama than a traditional horror flick. It’s just so bleak and depressing that it feels like a horror movie, so it’ll seep into your bones and get under your skin in a way more overtly spooky films can only dream of. It’s a tough watch that’s admittedly not for everybody, but much like The Substance, if you can handle the dreary darkness of this poor woman’s story, you’ll be richly rewarded with an uncompromising look at the human condition. 6) Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes If you ask me, the three most recent Planet of the Apes flicks (the “Caesar Saga,” if you will) rank as one of the best movie trilogies of all time. Everything about those films–from the characters to the special effects to the simian action–is top-notch, so I had high hopes for the fourth entry, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. It was one of my absolute most anticipated movies of the year, and to the surprise of nobody (okay, maybe a few people), it totally delivered. For starters, the visual effects are just as astounding as we’ve come to expect from this franchise. These animals look completely photorealistic, even down to the individual hairs and the folds of their skin, so if you let your guard down, you might even forget that they’re CGI. But as great as those visuals are, the beating heart of this film is the characters. It’s a bummer that Caesar is no longer with us, but his replacement, a young ape named Noa, is a worthy successor. I grew to love him almost as much as I loved his legendary predecessor, and his supporting cast is incredibly charming as well. In particular, the villain, Proximus Caesar, just might be the best antagonist the franchise has ever had, and when you put him up against such amazing heroes, you get a riveting good vs. evil tale that further cements these new Planet of the Apes movies as one of the best series in cinematic history. 5) Civil War As we enter the top half of this list, we start with Alex Garland’s Civil War. As the name suggests, this film takes place during a second American Civil War, but it’s not about the conflict per se. Instead, the story follows four journalists who travel the country documenting the war and the devastation it leaves in its wake. It’s a somewhat unexpected approach, but it’s also refreshing because it allows Civil War to leave partisan politics behind. We have no idea what particular issues are dividing the nation in this world, nor do we know the political leanings of the various factions. The movie just shows us how horrible this conflict is, and it lets the landscape’s oppressive atmosphere of despair and desolation speak for itself. It’s essentially a commentary on the extreme division that permeates our society today, and it pleads with us to get our act together before it’s too late. If we don’t, we just might end up in a civil war not too different from the one this film envisions, and for my money, that kind of timely and hard-hitting social commentary is hard to beat. 4) Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga In the number four spot, we have Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the fifth movie in the long-running Mad Max franchise. This latest entry is a prequel to 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, and it shows us how Furiosa went from a happy young girl to the deadly action hero we know and love from Fury Road. In a nutshell, she’s kidnapped one day by a maniacal warlord (aptly) named Dementus, and when the guy sells her to fellow strongman Immortan Joe, Furiosa rises through Joe’s ranks and seeks revenge against the man who abducted her all those years ago. If you enjoy the Mad Max films, you’re almost guaranteed to love Furiosa. It has everything fans of the franchise want, like flamboyantly over-the-top villains, a barren post-apocalyptic setting, and white-knuckle action that will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. But in my opinion, what really takes this movie to the next level is Furiosa’s heartbreaking story. The poor girl is essentially a human trafficking victim, and the two actresses who portray the character (one as a kid, the other as an adult) completely nail the trauma that often accompanies this horrible crime. They turn what could’ve been a mindless action flick into a thematically rich narrative about a real-world problem that doesn’t get nearly as much attention as it deserves, so Furiosa more than earns its status as the fourth-best film of 2024. If you suspect a case of human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline 24/7 at 888-3737-888, or text the hotline at 233-733. 3) Deadpool & Wolverine When Disney finalized their purchase of Fox, a lot of movie fans were concerned that the company might tone down Deadpool’s R-rated stylings, and I’m not going to lie, I was one of them. But thankfully, Disney let the Deadpool team make the film they wanted to make, and it turned out to be the capstone on arguably the greatest superhero trilogy in cinematic history. As the title suggests, Deadpool & Wolverine pairs the Merc with a Mouth with everybody’s favorite adamantium-infused mutant, and after initially clashing, the duo finally agree to team up and save Deadpool’s universe from total annihilation. It’s not exactly Shakespeare, but it doesn’t have to be. The story isn’t the draw here. Rather, it’s the way that story is told, and on that front, this movie knocks it out of the park. For starters, it’s chock-full of the irreverent humor and blood-soaked action Deadpool fans crave, and the chemistry between the two titular heroes is off the charts. On top of all that, Deadpool & Wolverine also has a touching emotional core that just might bring a tear or two to your eye, and it features a number of fun cameos that are sure to excite long-time genre veterans. Simply put, it’s everything I wanted it to be and so much more, so it’s no surprise that this film almost made it to the top of my list. 2) Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is probably the most unexpected movie on this list, but for people who know me, the surprise is that it’s not number one. See, I’m a massive kaiju fan, and my two favorites are Godzilla and King Kong. In fact, Godzilla is my favorite fictional character of all time, so of course his latest adventure with Kong is my second favorite film of the year. Plotwise, there’s not much to say here. Stuff happens, we see a bunch of awesome monster fights, and then Godzilla and Kong team up to face a new threat known as the Skar King. This creature rules a hidden clan of giant apes that reside deep below the surface of the earth, and he also controls an even more formidable monster named Shimo. Together, the Skar King and Shimo try to reach the surface and take over the world, and only the two titular kaiju can stop them. On paper, that might sound like little more than generic giant monster fun, but I think there’s a lot more to this movie than meets the eye. Unlike most kaiju antagonists, the Skar King isn’t just an animal doing what comes naturally to him. He’s genuinely evil, so he imbues his villainous role with a malevolence we don’t typically see in this genre. On the flipside, Kong shows surprisingly human-like compassion towards his fellow giant apes, even the ones trying to kill him, so this is essentially a traditional good vs. evil story with giant monsters instead of humans. It’s a great new twist on that tried-and-true formula, so if you ask me, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire isn’t just the second best film of the year. It’s one of the best kaiju movies of all time. 1) Cabrini I have to be honest, I had no intention of seeing Cabrini at first. As you can probably tell from the rest of this list, dramas about nuns helping the poor don’t typically grab me the way, say, horror and action films do. What’s more, I generally find Christian movies to be little more than pale imitations of their secular counterparts, so even though I knew about this film, it wasn’t really on my radar. I only saw it because my mom and some of my aunts wanted to check it out, and when I did, I was absolutely floored. As I’m sure you know, Cabrini tells the story of St. Frances Cabrini (often called Mother Cabrini), an Italian nun who traveled to New York to help the city’s poor Italian immigrants, and it’s one of the most beautiful films I’ve ever seen. The cinematography and acting are top-notch, but above all else, Mother Cabrini’s story is just jaw-dropping. The lives of the saints are supposed to inspire us to a greater love of God and neighbor, and this movie does exactly that. This woman gave her life completely to her vocation despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles, including some that came from within the Church, and whether you’re religious or not, you can’t help but be moved by her unwavering dedication to the poor. Cabrini is a shining example of what cinema can be when made with an eye towards truth, goodness, and beauty, so even though it’s pretty far outside my typical wheelhouse, this is the best movie I saw in 2024. |
Jp Nunezis a longtime film buff and theology nerd with master's degrees in theology and philosophy from Franciscan University of Steubenville. His favorite movie genres are horror, superheroes, and giant monsters. Archives
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