Why THE WAY Maintains Relevancy 13 Years After Release
By Movieguide® Contributor
Emilio Esteves, director of THE WAY, recently shared why he thinks his film has found new life and continued to inspire viewers since releasing 13 years ago.
“People have been doing this pilgrimage a thousand years,” Esteves said. “We decided to make a film about it. We had no idea it would get this sort of following that it has and it really struck a nerve with a lot of people because now, following the pandemic, people are looking at sort of hitting the reset button on their lives. And they’re saying ‘What’s important to me?’”
Esteves believes that people are looking to a pilgrimage for help because it provides them the space to think and figure out what they want. Many people view the Camino as a retreat from modern life. The pilgrimage also brings people into community with one another, something that many people are currently hungering for.
THE WAY helps people enter into that space and deal with their emotions of grief or loneliness or spiritual hunger.
“I think the importance of the film, and why it is so important now coming back, is that it offers that moment to grieve,” Esteves said. “I think that’s why people are digging into it again, and rediscovering it, and saying, ‘This movie, we may have missed this 12 years ago, but this movie is more important and more relevant now than when it was first released.’”
“[The Camino] is about community. And it is about finding community where we may not be finding it elsewhere right now in the world. And oftentimes, the community that you find may not be the community that you want but the community that you need,” he added.
THE WAY is an excellent experience for viewers who want to experience their grief and encounter the way that God can change hearts and lives.
A portion of Movieguide®’s review of THE WAY reads:
THE WAY is an inspiring, captivating movie about the spiritual journey of a father who lost his son on a religious pilgrimage in Europe. Tom, an agnostic eye doctor, goes to pick up his son’s body in France. There, he learns about the religious pilgrimage his son was taking when he died suddenly. The Camino de Santiago is a spiritual journey starting in France and leading to the Catholic church in Santiago in Northwestern Spain, where tradition says the remains of Jesus Christ’s brother, St. James, are buried. Feeling guilt and wanting to reconnect with his dead son, Tom decides to walk the path himself. Along the way, he meets several other people doing the same thing, and his hardened heart is transformed.
Entertaining and beautifully made, THE WAY will excite viewers into wanting to take a spiritual Christian journey themselves. The story is about spiritual transformation from a Christian, Catholic worldview. Though the movie is somewhat subtle in its depiction of Christianity, it does show a cold heart turned to love. Despite some foul language and brief marijuana and drug use, THE WAY is a captivating movie for mature, media-wise audiences.
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