A beautiful, real story of faith that will get the whole family praying this Lent. Fatima, the biggest faith-oriented film from 2020, is now streaming on Netflix just in time to kick off Lent. Fatima tells the true story of three Portuguese children who experienced Marian apparitions during World War I.
The events depicted in Fatima are some of the most well known in Christendom. When hope began to dwindle during the First World War, nine-year-old Lúcia dos Santos and her younger cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto prayed for peace. Soon after, the children received a response and claimed to have visions of the Blessed Mother. Officials were skeptical, but the faithful flocked to the area in pilgrimage. As Aleteia’s own David Ives explains:
The visions culminated in the famous Miracle of the Sun, in which thousands of witnesses purported to see Sol turn into a spinning disc and hurtle towards the Earth before returning to its natural state.
This film stands as a testament to the power of prayer. It shows that even the faith of a child can be enough to bring meaningful change to the world. It can be an excellent way to connect with kids, to introduce them to prayer, or to deepen their prayer habits. This, in turn, can lead to a life-long devotion to Our Lady of Fatima.
Director Marco Pontecorvo does a great job of presenting the truth of the story while drawing in those without faith. Throughout the film he peppers in scenes of a skeptical professor/author (Harvey Keitel), who interviews a much older Lúcia. Keitel’s character remains respectful of the story, even though he has doubts. This take on the story might resonate with non-religious viewers as well as religious.
Stream Fatima today on Netflix.
