Highest-Rated Movies about 'Religious Zealot'

There Will Be Blood (2007), Inherit the Wind (1960), The Night of the Hunter (1955), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Wadjda (2012), The Wicker Man (1973), Elizabeth (1998), Carrie (1976) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Religious Zealot movies.

#1. There Will Be Blood (2007)

Storyline: The intersecting life stories of Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday in early twentieth century California presents miner-turned-oilman Daniel Plainview, a driven man who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. He works hard but also takes advantage of those around him at their expense if need be. His business partner/son (H.W.) is, in reality, an "acquired" child whose true biological single-parent father (working on one of Daniel's rigs) died in a workplace accident. Daniel is deeply protective of H.W. if only for what H.W. brings to the partnership. Eli Sunday is one in a pair of twins whose family farm Daniel purchases for the major oil deposit located on it. Eli, a local preacher and a self-proclaimed faith healer, wants the money from the sale of the property to finance his own church. The lives of the two competitive men often clash as Daniel pumps oil off the property and tries to acquire all the surrounding land at bargain prices to be able to build a pipeline to the ...

Plot Keywords: oil, misanthrope, alcoholic, alcoholism, shot in the head, milkshake, capitalism ...

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#2. Inherit the Wind (1960)

Storyline: Teacher B.T. Cates is arrested for teaching Darwin's theories. Famous lawyer Henry Drummond defends him; fundamentalist politician Matthew Brady prosecutes. This is a very thinly disguised rendition of the 1925 "Scopes monkey trial" with debates between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan taken largely from the transcripts.

Plot Keywords: courtroom drama, based on play, 1920s, religious zealot, jury, evolution, lawyer ...

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#3. The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Storyline: It's the Great Depression. In the process of robbing a bank of $10,000, Ben Harper kills two people. Before he is captured, he is able to convince his adolescent son John and his daughter Pearl not to tell anyone, including their mother Willa, where he hid the money, namely in Pearl's favorite toy, a doll that she carries everywhere with her. Ben, who is captured, tried and convicted, is sentenced to death. But before he is executed, Ben is in the state penitentiary with a cell mate, a man by the name of Harry Powell, a self-professed man of the cloth, who is really a con man and murderer, swindling lonely women, primarily rich widows, of their money before he kills them. Harry does whatever he can, unsuccessfully, to find out the location of the $10,000 from Ben. After Ben's execution, Harry decides that Willa will be his next mark, figuring that someone in the family knows where the money is hidden. Despite vowing not to remarry, Willa ends up being easy prey for Harry's outward ...

Plot Keywords: widow, preacher, spanking, car theft, girl, southern gothic, loss of father ...

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#4. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

Storyline: The carpenter, Jesus of Nazareth, tormented by the temptations of demons, the guilt of making crosses for the Romans, pity for men and the world, and the constant call of God, sets out to find what God wills for Him. But as His mission nears fulfillment, He must face the greatest temptation; the normal life of a good man. Based, not on the Gospels, but on Nikos Kazantzakis' novel of the same name.

Plot Keywords: fasting, surrealism, christianity, betrayal, wedding, temple, murder ...

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#5. Wadjda (2012)

Storyline: WADJDA is a 10-year-old girl living in a suburb of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Although she lives in a conservative world, Wadjda is fun loving, entrepreneurial and always pushing the boundaries of what she can get away with. After a fight with her friend Abdullah, a neighborhood boy she shouldn't be playing with, Wadjda sees a beautiful green bicycle for sale. She wants the bicycle desperately so that she can beat Abdullah in a race. But Wadjda's mother won't allow it, fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl's virtue. So Wadjda decides to try and raise the money herself. At first, Wadjda's mother is too preoccupied with convincing her husband not to take a second wife to realize what's going on. And soon enough Wadjda's plans are thwarted when she is caught running various schemes at school. Just as she is losing hope of raising enough money, she hears of a cash prize for a Quran recitation competition at her school. She devotes herself...

Plot Keywords: crush, religious, friendship, children, school uniform, family relationships, child's point of view ...

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#6. The Wicker Man (1973)

Storyline: On Sunday, April 29, 1973, Sergeant Neil Howie with the West Highland Constabulary flies solo to Summerisle off the coast of Scotland. He is there to follow up on a letter addressed specifically to him from an anonymous source on Summerisle reporting that a twelve year old girl who lives on the island, Rowan Morrison, the daughter of May Morrison, has long been missing. The correspondence includes a photograph of Rowan. Upon his arrival on Summerisle, Howie finds that the locals are a seemingly simple minded lot who provide little information beyond the fact that they know of no Rowan Morrison and do not know the girl in the photo. Mrs. Morrison admits to having a daughter, seven year old Myrtle, but no Rowan. As Howie speaks to more and more people, he begins to believe that Rowan does or did live on the island, but that the locals are hiding their knowledge of her. He also begins to see that the locals all have pagan beliefs, their "religion" which centers on procreation as the ...

Plot Keywords: paganism, disappearance, secret society, folk horror, human sacrifice, female frontal nudity, small community ...

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#7. Elizabeth (1998)

Storyline: This film details the ascension to the throne and the early reign of Queen Elizabeth the First, as played by Cate Blanchett. The main focus is the endless attempts by her council to marry her off, the Catholic hatred of her and her romance with Lord Robert Dudley.

Plot Keywords: brutality, queen, catholic, throne, poisoning, orgy, inquisition ...

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#8. Carrie (1976)

Storyline: It's nearing the end of the school year. High school senior Carrie White is a social outcast, largely due to being unwise to the ways of the world based on her upbringing. Her mother, Margaret White, is a religious fanatic, her extreme views primarily targeted against sex, which she believes is a sin. She even believes natural associated processes such as menstruation are a sin, about which she has refused to mention to Carrie. Mrs. White's beliefs were taken to that extreme largely because of her own failed marriage and her husband Ralph long ago having run off with another woman. The only adult authority figure who tries to help Carrie with her life is her phys ed teacher, Miss Collins, who is nonetheless warned not to get too close to go against how Mrs. White chooses to raise Carrie, Mrs. White whose beliefs are well known in the community. An impromptu event that happens among Carrie's phys ed classmates against her leads to her classmates being punished. One of those students, ...

Plot Keywords: telekinesis, female frontal nudity, female nudity, female rear nudity, bad mother, high school prom, prank ...

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#9. Timbuktu (2014)

Storyline: Not far from the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu, proud cattle herder Kidane (Ibrahim Ahmed aka Pino) lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima (Toulou Kiki), his daughter Toya (Layla Walet Mohamed), and Issan (Mehdi Ag Mohamed), their twelve-year-old shepherd. In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned. The women have become shadows but resist with dignity. Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic and absurd sentences. Kidane and his family are being spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But their destiny changes abruptly.

Plot Keywords: desert, oppression, religious fanatic, adultery, jail, judge, trial ...

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#10. The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000)

Storyline: Twelve years after the dramatic collapse of the Christian empire of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, this documentary tells, for the first time, what really happened. Tammy Faye Bakker explains what really happened to her and her husband when they lost control of the first and most successful television ministry of its kind. PTL was the first network to launch its own satellite - "broadcasting 24 hours a day until the Second Coming", and the first - and only - to build a theme park, a huge Disney style Christian retreat that Jim built from donations from his loyal viewers. But their fall was as spectacular as their rise. It was the biggest scandal of its day, and one of the big crashes of the late 1980s. The Bakkers found themselves crucified in the court of public opinion for their greed and supposed corruption. Tammy Faye ended up at the Betty Ford Clinic, and Jim was imprisoned. The Eyes of Tammy Faye explores the dark workings of the televangelist industry and shows how Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were tricked out of their ministry by rival televangelist Jerry Falwell, leader of the moral majority. Falwell, it is claimed, promised help and support, then denounced them, staged a coup, and needlessly forced their ministry into bankruptcy. It shows how Jim Bakker was sentenced to 45 years in prison for fraud, by a judge who at one point stuck his fingers in his ears so as not to hear the defense arguments. The film claims that the accusations that they embezzled money from their ministry were completely false, and that although they lived well, they lived no better than any other televangelists running multi-million dollar ministries. The film follows Tammy Faye as - twelve years later - she tries to put her life back together. We accompany her to the 1200 acre Heritage Park complex which has lain empty and abandoned since the bankruptcy of PTL. And we witness her attempts to come to terms with what she has been through. It is the archetypal story of the boom-and-bust eighties, and of the extraordinary personalities that rule the world of the televangelist industry; and also the story of a unique woman's view of her world.

Plot Keywords: independent film, fraud, gay interest, husband wife reunion, hypocrite, investigative reporter, preacher ...

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#11. Department Q: A Conspiracy of Faith (2016)

Storyline: An old note is found in a bottle in Jutland which has traveled very long across the ocean a long time ago. The note is hard to decipher, but when the Danish investigator from Section Q receives it, the odd personalities within the section find a new angle on it and try to unveil yet another old and diabolic case even though the lead is cold.

Plot Keywords: religious faith, church, religious zealot, baptism, scissors, school, conspiracy ...

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#12. Big Eyes (2014)

Storyline: In San Francisco in the 1950s, Margaret was a woman trying to make it on her own after leaving her husband with only her daughter and her paintings. She meets gregarious ladies' man and fellow painter Walter Keane in a park while she was struggling to make an impact with her drawings of children with big eyes. The two quickly become a pair with outgoing Walter selling their paintings and quiet Margaret holed up at home painting even more children with big eyes. But Walter's actually selling her paintings as his own. A clash of financial success and critical failure soon sends Margaret reeling in her life of lies. With Walter still living the high life, Margaret's going to have to try making it on her own again and re-claiming her name and her paintings.

Plot Keywords: painting, abusive husband, artist, ex husband ex wife relationship, secret, 1950s, title spoken by character ...

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#14. Footloose (1984)

Storyline: Classic tale of teenage rebellion and repression features a delightful combination of dance choreography and realistic and touching performances. When teenager Ren McCormack and his family move from big-city Chicago to a small Midwestern town, he's in for a real case of culture shock. Though he tries hard to fit in, the streetwise Ren can't quite believe he's living in a place where rock music and dancing are illegal. However, there is one small pleasure: Ariel Moore, a troubled but lovely blonde with a jealous boyfriend. And a Bible-thumping minister, who is responsible for keeping the town dance-free. Ren and his classmates want to do away with this ordinance, especially since the senior prom is around the corner, but only Ren has the courage to initiate a battle to abolish the outmoded ban and revitalize the spirit of the repressed townspeople. Fast-paced drama is filled with such now-famous hit songs as the title track and "Let's Hear It for the Boy".

Plot Keywords: teenage rebellion, small town, high school dance, church, overprotective father, cowboy boots, dance party ...

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#15. The Omega Man (1971)

Storyline: Due to an experimental vaccine, Dr. Robert Neville is the only survivor of an apocalyptic war waged with biological weapons. The plague caused by the war has killed everyone else except for a few hundred deformed, nocturnal people calling themselves "The Family". The plague has caused them to become sensitive to light, as well as homicidally psychotic. They believe science and technology to be the cause of the war and their punishment, and Neville, as the last symbol of science, the old world, and a "user of the wheel", must die. Neville, using electricity, machinery, and science attempts to hold them at bay.

Plot Keywords: plague, based on novel, survival, mutant, dystopia, post apocalypse, albino ...

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