The 25 best films about "waking up"

What do the movies Spirited Away, Joe Versus the Volcano, Arrival, and The Truman Show have in common?

They appear on a new list of films that are...

specifically about characters who “wake up,” who learn not to be one-sided, who cast aside busy habits of inattention, or who learn to see past the initial blindness of their own unquestioned assumptions.

That's from Part One of J. A. Purves's two-part introduction to the latest Arts and Faith film list for adventurous moviegoers. Arts and Faith is a discussion board where lively conversations about art and faith have been going on for more than a decade. (The board is hosted by Image.)

I've had the privilege of participating in the voting on these lists over several years now, and for this list in particular I contributed two of the perspectives on particular films: one by director Wim Wenders and one by director Paul Harrill.

Read Part One, Part Two, and then... discover the full list of 25 films about "waking up"!