By REY FLORES
Purgatory — The Secret Revelations of Padre Pio and Fulla Horak. This movie is having a limited release in theaters on October 25 and 28, 2021. Visit www.purgatorymovie.com for a theatre near you.
While researching this movie, I found that there at least a half dozen movies with the title “Purgatory.” They range in genres from western action, to horror, to this latest one from Polish director and screenwriter Michal Kondrat, whose other films include Love and Mercy: Faustina and Two Crowns, both of which I previously reviewed for this publication.
Kondrat’s moviemaking style is unique in the way that his films are often a combination of interviews and dramatic reenactments. The interviews are usually with clergy, historians, and lay people who are well versed in the topic of the films. This gives the viewer factual and historically documented information, while the reenactments help deliver the story of the film’s focus with dramatic flair. I guess that is what one would refer to as a docu-series.
These films are very academic in nature, as they seem more suited to mature audiences than to families with younger children. I say this mainly because many of the people interviewed are speaking a foreign language (French, Polish), and reading the subtitles in English is a must if you want to truly absorb all of the great information presented here. The English language narration is superbly done by Relevant Radio’s own Drew Mariani.
From the film’s online website: “People have been wondering what awaits them after death since the beginning of time. And although nobody managed to penetrate the secret, there have been many people through the ages that could see more — like Fulla Horak, St. Faustina Kowalska, or St. Padre Pio. These mystics — people who have been graced by the visits of souls from Purgatory — are only some of the protagonists of Michal Kondrat’s latest film.”
“This film tells the story of souls living in bodies and souls that have already left this world. It is also a reminder — in film form — of the most outstanding theologians and scientists, who have been studying the state of human consciousness when the body dies.”
I’m fairly certain that most Catholics have had discussions about life after death with both other Catholics and nonbelievers. It certainly is a sad thought to have that once your body dies, that’s the end of it all. If that were the end of it all, why are we such incredibly complex beings, more so than non-human creatures? After all, we’ve been taught since we were children old enough to understand the concept that we are made in God’s image and likeness, all but the divinity.
Having been involved in pro-life activism for nearly 20 years, I liked the fact that the film touched upon aborted and miscarried babies, and whether they have souls or not, and if they do, where exactly do they go? If we believe that God already knew us before we were even in our mother’s womb, I have to believe that these babies of course have eternal souls.
And speaking of eternal souls, one would think that if more people believed this to be fact, wouldn’t they behave much better than many of us currently do? My goodness, just the word “eternal” before the word “soul” should cause us great pause to reassess how we are, or could be better, living our earthly lives.
Another topic addressed in the film is how many of us assume so much about what happens to people’s souls, particularly people who commit suicide. It is not up to us to decide the fate of these souls. That is up to God to make those just judgments, not ours. We need to pray for them and beg for God’s mercy on them.
“Pray, brothers, for the souls in Purgatory, for they suffer an unbearable torment” — St. Stanislaus Papczynski.
Purgatory — The Secret Revelations of Padre Pio and Fulla Horak is having a limited release in theatres on October 25 and 28, 2021. Visit www.purgatorymovie.com for a theatre near you.
(Rey Flores writes opinion and book and movie reviews for The Wanderer. Contact Rey at reyfloresusa@gmail.com.)
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