Losing my religion

Higher Ground

Crit

At least one review I read congratulates first-time director Vera Farmiga for refusing to condescend to the Christian subjects of her film, but that very assessment is condescending, and while I'm as capable as any nonbeliever of condescending to belief, I would say that what Farmiga deserves congratulations for is simply not stacking the deck, in either direction; how many films about faith can you say that about?

We meet a few Christians who are selfsure to the point of smugness, but such people occur naturally in the general population, not excluding in, say, my own liberal atheist cohort. Most of the Christians we meet are decent, some are lovely and funny and wise, and all are, at bottom, human. And Corinne, Farmiga's character, wants faith desperately but can't find it. Her quest is the heart of a beautiful, moving, and occasionally surreal film.