Atheist themed films

Disclaimer: Originally posted in the "Movie Review" group, thought I would open it up to everyone.

So I'm looking for movies that have an Atheism or freethinking theme, either overtly or subtly. No documentaries though.

Most Hollywood films seem to have a "Faith will save you" or "You have to believe in something" theme if they deal with religion at all.

The few pro-Atheist or pro-freethinking films I can think of are:

The Invention of Lying (2009)

The Truman Show (1998)

Contact (1997)

Which ones can you think of?

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Permalink Reply by luvtheheaven on October 31, 2011 at 4:35pm

The Man from Earth (2007) was a really enjoyable one that was definitely pro-atheist.

Also I kept hearing podcasts promoting the new movie "The Ledge" over the summer that had an atheist "hero" but Rotten Tomatoes gave it such a horrible score so I was skeptical about if I should see it... :P

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Permalink Reply by Unseen on November 1, 2011 at 3:09am

How about The Man Who Fell To Earth?

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Permalink Reply by Walrus T on October 31, 2011 at 4:56pm

The first one to come to my mind is The Golden Compass. I am sure there are more but my brain is just not in top form - will be back with anything else I think of.

I would body-check you on Contact - although there is a little dig at the end about the 15 minutes of static, it's the only homage they pay to the book really - there is an overwhelming turn the atheist into a believer theme

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Permalink Reply by Chancy on October 31, 2011 at 5:32pm

I agree that Contact seems to be very conflicted, or perhaps just an air of "We're all not so different after all".

But it does portray a strong Atheist in overwhelming circumstances, and she does NOT cave or fall to religion. +1 in my book.

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Permalink Reply by Walrus T on November 1, 2011 at 6:15am

True. I suspect that after writing the screenplay they found they had to water it down because of religious backlash or something. Overall I enjoyed it.

Ohhh - Titan AE struck me as generally athiestic.

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Weaver on November 1, 2011 at 2:35pm

Titan AE FTW.

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Permalink Reply by Chancy on November 3, 2011 at 9:16am

Such a great, underrated movie

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Permalink Reply by Marc Poulin on October 31, 2011 at 6:05pm

Red State (2011) by Kevin Smith. I guess you can call it pro-Atheist, as it depicts a religious cult family that murders sinners. It certainly isn't pro religion that's for sure. But before you run to Blockbuster let me warn you it is really, really violent and graphic. Which is why I loved it, one of the best movies of the year.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Johnson on October 31, 2011 at 11:01pm

Paul ~ The message is sublime, but effective

The Ledge ~ This is a low budget but well made smart movie.

South Park the movie ~ They are the best at critiquing everything.

Futurama ~ TV series. Makes a lot of fun of the Bible. Watch the 6th season as they were more open about their agenda in that.

BTW, most Movies & TV shows do not promote religion and usually have the hero making fun of it one way or the other. For example, look at Vin Diesel's character in Pitch Black

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149460/

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Permalink Reply by Geektheist (Rocky Oliver) on November 1, 2011 at 1:50am

Can't believe no one mentioned Dogma, written and directed by Kevin Smith. It starred Chris Rock, Linda Fiorentino, Jeanene Garofalo, Alan Rickman, Alanis Morrissette, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Salma Hayek, George Carlin, Jason Lee, and last but not least, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith)!

One of my favorite (sac)religious movies of all time.