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I’m hoping to have a regular series of posts of film recommendations for atheists and nonbelievers.  Feel free to give some suggestions in the comments!

A couple weeks ago Café Apostate took our usual monthly meeting to the movies, and we watched the film Higher Ground. Here’s the trailer.

I had been really looking forward to the film, especially after reading the book it was based on, This Dark World by Carolyn S. Briggs.  I’m always on the hunt for apostate stories, and I wasn’t disappointed in this one.  Granted, not everyone could relate to the main character’s story, but so much of her experience rang true for me, a fellow defector from evangelicalism.

What I liked most about the film is how it showed the intense internal struggle that can take place for some people when it comes to rejecting faith.  It’s not as if someone wakes up one day and just drops everything he or she has believed.  It’s often a long walk away — and some of the walk is in dark places.

For me, it wasn’t an easy decision to drop my belief, and there were times when I wished — even pleaded to god — that he would magically appear, so I could have that certainty of faith again.  But, that didn’t happen.  And once you turn a certain corner away from belief, there’s no turning back.

Which leads me to my second film choice for apostates: The Truman Show.

The Truman Show is the story of a man who has lived his life in a false reality. Everything in his life is staged for the reality-TV show, from mundane traffic he encounters on the street to the intimate relationships in his life.  One day he starts to see the cracks in the facade of his life, and he’s faced with a choice: does he keep pursuing knowledge about the unknown, even if it could jeopardize the safe and happy life he’s always known?

By the end of the film, everyone is rooting for Truman to make the choice that is best for him.

If there’s a metaphor for apostates, I think The Truman Show is it. Doubt is an inevitable part of faith, and there comes a point in a believer’s life when you’re at a crossroads: keep believing or dare to challenge?

That’s it for this month’s atheist cinema! Pop some popcorn and enjoy!