In the weeks leading up to the election of Pope Francis, debates about various papal candidates dominated the press and, if you’re like me, the conversation at home. And whether Catholics consulted with their parish priest or with Paddy Power, it is likely that many had in mind a shortlist of probable popes — and were rooting for a favorite or two.

Bethany Hamilton never really saw the 14-foot tiger shark that bit off her arm in the Hawaiian waters. In the recreation of that scene in Soul Surfer, a film that follows the incident and its aftermath, the viewers don’t see much of the animal either. Which is fine. Because although the way in which the now-nationally-ranked surfer lost her arm in 2003 at the age of 13 is terrifying, it is, in many ways, the least interesting part of her story. Far more engrossing and inspiring are the role of faith in her recovery, the series of physical struggles, and the family tensions that followed, all of which are captured successfully — for the most part — in Soul Surfer.

The first images of the monks’ daily lives in Of Gods and Men are peaceful ones: They tend to gardens, pour jars of golden honey, and care for the sick who line up beside their clinic. They join in the occasional celebrations and sorrows of their Muslim neighbors. They sing and pray. The monks’ daily tasks seem a perfect balance of action and contemplation, and they perform them with a comforting combination of surety and peace.
It’s easy to assume things will always be this way, but viewers familiar with the real-life story of these French Trappist monks in Algeria during its 1990s civil war will know that this is not the case. The monastery is adjacent to a small Muslim village and an early montage…