Trial Film - Religious Trial Films

Religious Trial Films

• Jesus Christ (played by Jim Caviezel) in The Passion of the Christ is alternately tried by Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate and ultimately executed by Pilate. Nominated for 3 Academy Awards.
• The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) features Walter Huston as the Devil arguing for a man's soul. Huston was nominated for the Best Actor in a Leading Role Academy Award.
• The famous Judgment of Solomon from the Bible is portrayed in Solomon and Sheba.
• The Man Who Sued God (2001), an Australian film starring Billy Connolly who takes God (represented by the church) to court for compensation over the destruction of his fishing boat due to "an Act of God".
• Inherit the Wind (1960), an American film set in a small religious town. A teacher begins to teach evolution, and goes to court for his right to teach evolution. starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, and Gene Kelly
• The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a 2005 American courtroom drama horror film directed by Scott Derrickson. The film is loosely based on the story of Anneliese Michel and follows a self-proclaimed agnostic defense lawyer representing a parish priest who is accused by the state of negligent homicide after he performed an exorcism. The film, which largely takes place in a courtroom, depicts the events leading up to and including the exorcism through flashbacks.
• The Crucible is a 1996 drama film written by Arthur Miller and based on his play of the same name. Both the play and film are based loosely on the Salem witch trials. It was directed by Nicholas Hytner and stars Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor, Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams, Paul Scofield as Judge Thomas Danforth, and Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor.