Cast: Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne, Jonathan Pryce
Year: 1999
Length: 102min
Director: Rupert Wainwright
Rated: R

Frankie Page becomes a messanger for a lost gospel that is supposed to contain the words of Christ. She receives the signs of the Stigmata despite being an atheist. Now it is up to a priest who is also a man of science to decifer the message and save Frankie.

Some have classified Stigmata as a horror movie because it is very graphic (despite the fact that a lot of scenes were cut). The movie does become somewhat frightining because the special effects make the Stigmatic signs seem so real (to be honest I was repeating over and over again how badly I wanted to see a Care Bears movie so that I would be able to sleep with some happy thoughts - hey dont laugh at me - I got issues).

Reason for Importance

The Catholic Church sees the Stigmata as a mystical phenomenon. A Stigmatic sees it as a blessing. The movie offers some historical facts regarding Stigmata. However, it should be noted that it of course incorporates Holywood drama to make the movie more interesting. I found watching the movie with the director's commentary to be very interesting because he told us what was fake and gave some insight into how the Church approaches "religous miracles". The making aware of lost gospels not recognized by the Church is also of interest to religious followers, etc. because (well I can't say because it is up to whoever reads this to decide why they are of interest if at all) sorry. I will write the quote (the supposed words of Christ) from the gospel mentioned in the movie, the "Gospel of St. Thomas", "Split a piece of wood and you will find me, lift a stone and I am there, the Kingdom of God lives inside of you".

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