New film on Carlo Acutis to be released on his canonization date

CNA Staff, Feb 13, 2025 / 05:00 am (CNA).

“Carlo Acutis: Roadmap to Reality,” the highly anticipated documentary on the life of the soon-to-be saint, will be released in theaters nationwide for a limited time from April 27-29. The release date coincides with Pope Francis’ canonization of Carlo Acutis, the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint, on April 27.

Castletown Media, in association with Catholic filmmaker Jim Wahlberg, made the announcement on Feb. 12.

Castletown Media is producing the film and Fathom Events will distribute it. The two media companies recently experienced success with another joint film project called, “Jesus Thirsts: The Miracle of the Eucharist,” which became Fathom Events’ highest-grossing documentary of 2024.

“Roadmap to Reality” explores the life of Acutis and the lessons he offers young people regarding the challenges of the digital world. The documentary blends live action, animation, and documentary-style interviews with Acutis’ family, friends, tech experts, and scholars to tackle urgent questions about artificial intelligence and the technological world we live in.

The film also follows the journey of a group of high school students who embark on a two week pilgrimage from North Dakota to Italy to visit Acutis’ tomb. One of the requirements for the pilgrimage was for the young people to disengage from technology and leave their phones at home.

Additionally, the documentary features Acutis’ family and friends sharing their firsthand experiences of Acutis and his impact on their lives, in addition to well-known voices in the Catholic Church and technology experts who offer a model for young people to engage in the digital world.

“Fathom Entertainment is very pleased to join forces once again with Tim, Jim, and the passionate team at Castletown Media to bring this heartfelt and uplifting documentary film to the big screen,”said Ray Nutt, Chief Executive Officer at Fathom Entertainment in a press release. “This captivating real-life, modern-day story is sure to resonate with audiences of all faiths and backgrounds, leaving a lasting impact and inspiring countless hearts.”

“One of the themes in the film is that he [Acutis] was online to lead people offline. He was online to lead people back to the Eucharist, back to real encounters,” Tim Moriarty, director of the new Acutis film and founder of Castletown Media, told CNA.

Moriarty believes that a film about this young soon-to-be saint is needed because “Carlo’s life provides a road map away from the distractions of the virtual world to the real world, especially through his devotion to the Eucharist — his ‘highway to heaven.’”

Moriarty called the release of the documentary “providential.”

On Nov. 20, Pope Francis announced the canonization date of Blessed Carlo Acutis, which will take place during the Church’s Jubilee of Teenagers. Acutis’ canonization Mass is expected to take place on Sunday, April 27, at 10:30 a.m. local time in St. Peter’s Square, according to the Diocese of Assisi.

Acutis, an Italian computer-coding teenager who died of cancer in 2006, is known for his great devotion to the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Born in 1991, he was the first millennial to be beatified by the Catholic Church and will now be the first millennial to be canonized.