Box Office 2015 Ruled by Redemptive Movies!

Up-to-date reporting of 2015 movies reveals that films that affirm family values and provide redemptive stories have continued to perform well at the domestic and worldwide box office and that moviegoers continue to support such films with their purchases.

A “redemptive” film that affirms good family values is one that involves the process of something or someone becoming more worthy despite former negative states. Redemptive movies present realistic and honest stories in which the characters go on journeys that lead them towards positive results, toward reconciliation, and toward Truth. These edifying stories reveal universal ideas and lift viewers from negativity, cynicism, and pessimism to what is positive, renewing, and hopeful. Although they present honest, difficult struggles, they turn what is paralyzing, degrading, and debilitating to what is freeing, beautiful, and eternal. Characters are presented honestly and appropriately for target audiences, but right and wrong are always clear, and gratuitous, dehumanizing elements that might degrade or desensitize target audiences are absent.

Cinderella is one of many family films that audiences have loved this year; Photo Courtesy of Disney Studios.

In 2015, good, redemptive, worthwhile movies (although mostly for ages 12 and above) that are entertaining, engaging, and edifying, and that have topped the domestic box office, include the following to date: Avengers: Age of Ultron (#2, PG-13, Marvel/Disney), Inside Out (#4, PG, Pixar/Disney), Cinderella (#6, PG, Disney), Home (#8, PG, Dreamworks), Paddington (#22, PG, Weinstein), McFarland, USA (#30, PG, Disney), Max (#33, PG, Warner Bros.), Do You Believe? (#56, PG-13, Pure Flix), Little Boy (#69, PG-13, Open Road), Old Fashioned (#86. PG-13, Freestyle), Beyond the Mask (#95, PG, Gathr), and Where Hope Grows (#98, PG-13, Roadside Attractions). Many of these redemptive movies are still available in theaters or for personal use on DVDs or streaming. Although these are all PG or PG-13 (parental guidance) movies with content that is not necessarily appropriate for young children, there is little in them that is gratuitous or degrading.

Other family and/or redemptive movies with worthwhile elements at the box office this weekend include: Batkid Begins (PG, Warner Bros.), Faith of our Fathers (PG-13, Pure Flix), Ant-Man (PG-13, Marvel), and Mr. Holmes (PG, Roadside Attractions).

Mr. Holmes, out for only a couple of weekends, may have the right redemptive qualities for your family; Photo Courtesy of Roadside Attractions.

Parents and guardians are becoming more aware about movie marketing that makes them look family-friendly, when in fact they may be entertaining with no edifying or redemptive elements. Smart consumers of movies know that good and worthwhile movies can entertain and still edify and even educate. The most valuable movies go beyond entertainment to uplift, provide hope, and give insight into what contributes to worthwhile living.

Written by Diane Howard, Ph.D. (Performance Studies), dianehoward.com