At the convent of Paray-le-Monial, a Visitation Sister awakens, puts on her shoes and heads toward the chapel, where she kneels for prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. It is Dec. 27, 1673, and the nun is Margaret Mary Alacoque. The Host begins to radiate and then becomes brighter. She is transfixed — and Jesus appears to her, pulling back his cloak to show his Sacred Heart burning with love. Jesus then speaks to her about his heart.

The miraculous, mystical message is simple and beautiful — and this scene immediately opens the door for viewers of Sacred Heart: His Reign Has No End to want to know about the “whys” — why did Jesus appear to her? Why is his heart on fire? What message does Jesus want her to bring to people?

The special effects play their part in generating these questions. In the times they are used, they are beautifully done to make the moment mystical and underscore the message the Sacred Heart gives to Sister Margaret Mary to eventually carry and spread to the world. The film goes on to bring that message to today’s world: the way the message of the Sacred Heart has touched myriad hearts, especially now.

The husband-wife team of Sabrina and Steven Gunnell produced and directed the film to honor and spread the message of the Sacred Heart. In fact, despite a deliberate attempt in France to stop the film from being shown, it premiered there in 2024 and became a cinematic surprise.

The expectations are the same for the United States, where Sacred Heart will play in theaters June 9-11 and June 14. The providential timing follows the official consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by the U.S. bishops on June 11, entrusting the nation to the love of Jesus on the celebration of this nation’s 250th anniversary. (Watch the June 11 Mass on EWTN, along with another Mass on June 12.)

The film also becomes an excellent tie-in to the Church’s celebration of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 12.

Sacred Heart is beautifully made, a very moving, riveting retelling of the story of the beloved devotion that concentrates on how such devotion can and will change lives. The result becomes not a typical docudrama, but a dramatic telling of the Sacred Heart story, from how it came to be when Jesus revealed his heart to St. Margaret Mary and then especially how the devotion she learned and spread has changed lives and impacted people, shown through the recounting of personal stories.

With a history of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus woven throughout, the film focuses on several people telling their stories of life before and after discovering the Sacred Heart of Jesus, especially through the Eucharist. Their stories are uniquely individual yet intertwined because they all share the same healing balm: a devotion to the Sacred Heart that made all things new for them.

In one case, one young woman, a talented soccer player, found her life empty — but after visiting Paray-le-Monial, she slowly discovered many people her age joyously and enthusiastically in love with Jesus and the Holy Eucharist. “The Jesus I met in that chapel never left me,” she says.

In another instance, a young man confined to a wheelchair with multiple sclerosis finds peace and joy, looking at a Sacred Heart image with a heart burning in flame. He says, “I firmly believe in the love of your divine heart. My great fragility presses me, pushes me to press in the Lord’s hands. He pushes me to rest upon his heart.”

Other personal stories told by the ones who lived them are just as moving. There is a former drug dealer whose conversion came during Eucharistic adoration. A husband and wife go to the French shrine, where, though difficult, he decides to go to confession for the first time in 30 years.

One of the film’s great lessons emphasizes the connection between the Sacred Heart and the Eucharist. There are also lessons about the healing power of the Eucharist and the healing power of the mercy of God and of the sacrament of confession.

Many of these insights and stories also come from unexpected sources, including Clementine Beauvais, a descendant of St. Margaret Mary, and the great-grandson of French soldier and sacred artist George Desvallières, whose painting was influenced by the Sacred Heart and who had a hand in the promotion of the Sacred Heart badge.

Woven around these personal stories are comments and insights about this devotion and the impact it can and does have on lives from seven priests, including the current and former rectors at Paray-le-Monial, and two nuns from the convent where St. Margaret Mary spent her religious life.

From personal stories to commentary, every scene shows much “heart” obviously went into the making of this film. That impact and message is even more powerful in the way the Gunnells present the stories and the insights woven around them.

For one, since originally in French, the film’s powerful stories need English narration (and Spanish for one of the scheduled showings) for each of the featured people. Each voice is not only different, as it should be, but matches the person so that the technique does not distract from the story but enhances it.

At the same time, instead of a run-of-the-mill presentation of interviews, the filmmakers use a variety of approaches and subtle changes in camera angles to keep the stories and comments ever fresh, leaving the viewer feeling as if he or she is being told the story personally.

Since this is a docudrama, some dramatized scenes, such as Margaret Mary’s meetings with the Sacred Heart of Jesus and with her confessor, Last Supper scenes highlighting the connection of the Eucharist to Jesus’ Sacred Heart, and the Crucifixion are interwoven to make the connections stand out further. Another is the connection of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to the Sacred Heart. (Only the First Friday devotions connected to the Sacred Heart devotions and the Eucharist and the 12 Promises of the Sacred Heart that Jesus made to St. Margaret Mary for those honoring his heart are not mentioned.)

Insights from saints also show the universality of the message, such as St. Augustine’s “You have made us for yourself, Lord, and the heart is restless until it rests in you.”

Their words and the theme of the film resound quite clearly and emphatically as one of the people with a transformed and regenerated heart observes, “When you encounter the Sacred Heart, you can’t help but change.”

We can imagine what a revival can take place and what the world would look like if those who see Sacred Heart: His Reign Has No End put the lessons and message into practice, as the last word in this beautiful and inspiring film says, adapting a quote from Pope Francis in Dilexit Nos: “Only the love of the Sacred Heart will make a new humanity possible.”

Bonus Addition

The 20-minute bonus material added to the film offers short, powerful insights from Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley; Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly; Marian Father Chris Alar, host of EWTN’s Living Divine Mercy; and Timothy O'Donnell, author of Heart of the Redeemer. Their highlights about the Sacred Heart devotion shine like precious gems.

For instance, Supreme Knight Kelly illustrates why the message of the Sacred Heart is more important than ever. “It reminds us that true renewal, whether that’s renewal in our families, our communities, or our culture, begins with a conversion of heart.”

O’Donnell shares practical ways families together can be devoted to the Sacred Heart.

Father Alar gives an eye-opening explanation why “Divine Mercy doesn’t replace the Sacred Heart, as some claim; it fulfills it.” He beautifully explains how and why they are inseparable, “the same heart under different aspects.”

Archbishop Coakley explains the nation’s consecration: “By entrusting America to the Sacred Heart, the bishops are calling all of us to look to the ultimate source of peace and renewal. In a time marked by division and the loss of a shared moral compass, this consecration is a powerful witness. The message of the Sacred Heart is more important than ever.” Yet another reason this film is a must-see.