A recent trend in movies that are shown at the local theaters are those that have a religious message to them.

War Room, God’s Not Dead, and Heaven is for Real are all recent popular examples of this new phenomenon. Alex and Stephen Kendrick might not be household names to most moviegoers, but their success in bringing out evangelical crowds to the theaters is getting noticed beyond just the religious people who make up the foundation of their fan base.

The Kendrick brothers wrote and directed War Room, which remained a popular movie at local theaters for several weeks this summer. It focuses on the story of a disintegrating marriage with a husband and wife who use the power of prayer and faith to keep their family together.

These films are successful, making millions of dollars. Not only are these movies successful at the box office, but they’re also impressive to the people that watch these films.

“Films like these help my relationship with God and are very inspirational,” Julien Hill said.

Hill’s favorite Christian movie is The Passion. It’s one of the very few that affect him emotionally. To Hill the purpose of the movie is to love thy neighbor.

Senior Madison Round believes that Christian films serve a purpose to religious moviegoers.

“It made me appreciate religion and even though I don’t have a relationship with God I do have respect for Christians,” Round said.

Sophomore Shana Gerlofs said she feels that the purpose of movies are to teach viewers a lesson and to make you believe in it.

“I think that religious movies try to make you believe in them and the main message,” Gerlofs said. “Movies like this make me think about spiritual and divine beings.”

Christian movies have become a staple in cinema thanks to the audiences that believe in the message that send.