HOLY DAYS

Here's the good news first: this is a comedy with a genuinely strong Christian core. A boy named Brian, hollowed out by grief and anger toward his father's new girlfriend, finds healing through three nuns who become his unlikely family. The story earns its emotional payoff — Movieguide's reviewer calls the character arcs excellent and the blend of humor and heartbreak skillful. That's a real compliment, and it's rare.

The catch is tone, not theology. As the story goes on, the nuns loosen up — smoking, drinking, and letting slip some rough language — and the film treats it as funny rather than as something to correct. Nothing here is severe, but it's consistent enough that younger viewers may walk away thinking it's simply how nuns behave.

If you're bringing teenagers or watching as an adult, the payoff — a hardened heart softening into forgiveness — is well worth the trip. For younger kids, wait and watch it with them so you can talk through the comedy as it happens.

Brian Collins is a good kid drowning in grief after his mother's death — grief that curdles into hatred when his father starts dating a new woman, Liz. His only comfort is three nuns at a convent on the edge of town who knew his mother and have become his closest friends.

When word comes that the convent will be sold to a developer, the sisters set off across New Zealand to find the one document that can save it — and they bring Brian along for the ride.

Three stars means this comedy does more than it needed to. The reviewer praises how skillfully it blends humor and heartbreak, landing a "satisfying conclusion" rather than settling for cheap laughs or easy sentiment. The character arcs are called excellent, and the score is noted as supporting the emotional journey rather than working against it.

That's a real achievement for a road-trip comedy built around grief, and it suggests a film more interested in earning its emotions than manufacturing them.

This film's convictions are its strength. It carries a strong Christian, redemptive, moral worldview told from a Roman Catholic perspective — Catholicism isn't decoration here but the plot's engine, with nuns, religious attire, and prayer woven throughout. At its center is a boy filled with hate who gradually chooses forgiveness, and that arc is handled with real care.

The wrinkle is tonal, not doctrinal. As the story progresses, the nuns grow more relaxed about their own standards — smoking, drinking, and slipping into crude language — and the film never corrects this; it simply treats it as comedy. That choice can blur the line between "these characters are flawed and human" and "this behavior is harmless fun," especially for younger viewers still learning to tell the difference.

Still, the film's deepest longing — a hate-filled heart made new — points straight at the gospel's own promise: "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This is a comedy with an unusually generous heart — a story about a hurting boy who learns to forgive, told through three nuns who feel like family. It's also a little too comfortable laughing at the nuns' worst habits along the way. Our answer stands: worth the trip — teens and up. Watching with younger kids? Bring the conversation with you, or start with our latest family-friendly picks.