Coinciding with the April 27 canonization of Carlo Acutis is the release of Carlo Acutis: Roadmap to Reality, distributed by Fathom Entertainment and premiering in theaters April 27-29.

Acutis, the 15-year-old computer programmer who died from leukemia in 2006, is often referred to as “the millennial saint” or “God’s influencer.” Roadmap to Reality intentionally addresses these monikers not as clever nicknames but as points of meditation on what it means to be a young Catholic with a footprint in both the digital world and physical world.

The soon-to-be saint who was born in London to non-practicing Italian parents (his mother recounts her return to the faith through her son’s witness) was raised in Milan. He was declared “Venerable” by Pope Francis in 2018. The Church credited Carlo’s intercession in the cure of a child’s pancreatic disease in 2020.

This new feature-length documentary, co-directed by Tim Moriarty (who helmed last year’s Jesus Thirsts), blends biographical elements of Carlo’s life with philosophical reflections on today’s digital obsession and the loneliness of the young from some of the Church’s prominent media voices. These include Msgr. Roger Landry, national director of The Pontifical Mission Societies USA and regular Register contributor; Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, and National Eucharistic Revival chair; Msgr. James Shea, president of the University of Mary; EWTN’s Real Life Catholic’s Chris Stefanick; The Catholic Channel host Katie Prejean McGrady; and Hallow’s Alex Jones.

Viewers also hear and see from those who knew Carlo during his short time on earth — his mother Antonia, father Andrea, his friends and his parish priest — supplemented by commentary from Carlo’s numerous biographers, including regular Register contributors and “Carlo experts” Courtney Mares, author of Carlo Acutis: A Saint in Sneakers and Rome correspondent for EWTN News’ Catholic News Agency, and correspondent Sabrina Ferrisi.

“Carlo was the great apostle of modern technology for [spreading the Gospel],” Msgr. Landry says in the film.

“Carlo Acutis’ story addresses the anxiety, isolation and disconnection many teens experience today,” director Moriarty told the Register. “By highlighting Carlo’s balanced and intentional relationship with technology, we hope to offer viewers — especially young people — a positive example of reclaiming mental health and spiritual holiness through authentic relationships, meaningful experiences and a connection to the sacraments.”

While there is no lack of content and media currently available about Carlo’s life and path to sainthood, Roadmap to Reality employs an extremely effective framing device that anchors the film’s narrative.

The film follows 150 Catholic high-school students from North Dakota as they participate in the University of Mary’s pilgrimage to Rome, which tangibly depicts that teen anxiety and isolation largely wrought by over-reliance on technology. Indeed, the pilgrimage only allowed the students to have one digital device during their time abroad: a camera. “Initially, many expressed anxiety and disbelief, highlighting technology's profound grip on their lives,” Moriarty noticed.

The film captures candid observations from the students about their lives, the role faith may or may not play in it, and, when they pray before Carlo’s tomb in Assisi, what the life and legacy of the millennial saint means to them.

“As the pilgrimage progressed, a remarkable transformation took place,” Moriarty recalled of what viewers see transpire in the film. “Students began to articulate feelings of relief, peace and spiritual renewal.”

“To see someone my age become a saint,” a female student says in the film after praying at Carlo’s tomb, “I started crying.”

And it is the Eucharist that anchored Carlo’s young but profound faith life. Roadmap to Reality strives to infuse this important component to not only Carlo’s life but the life of the Church and manages to balance the film’s multilayered themes — Carlo’s biography, his faith life, devotion to the Eucharist, and his stature as a spiritual role model in today’s world — while not getting lost in the process.

The decision to frame the film through the lens of these high-school students links the narrative to the charism of Carlo. As such, Roadmap to Reality should be required viewing for every contemporary Catholic high-school student and their parents, grandparents and mentors. “Our primary audience is young people who face mental and spiritual challenges driven by excessive screen time and digital overload,” Moriarty said.

Roadmap to Reality also does not shy away from tackling the lure and power of the digital world. Students are frank in admitting how tethered they are to their phones, while some acknowledge the lack of faith in their daily lives. Such honesty is contrasted in Carlo’s embrace of digital technology, but how he balanced it through the lens of faith. We see how, as just a teenager, Carlo harnessed the internet to evangelize, developing websites chronicling Marian apparitions and Eucharistic miracles around the world, launched just before his death on Oct. 12, 2006.

“His goal was to get people off of his website and back into church,” Stefanick remarks in the film.

Roadmap to Reality was produced by Jim Wahlberg’s Wahl St. Productions and Moriarty’s Castletown Media in association with the National Eucharistic Congress and the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. Moriarty’s co-director is Christian Surtz, who previously produced Father Kapaun Comes Home for Spirit Juice Studios. A bonus presentation from the National Eucharistic Congress follows Roadmap to Reality.

Moriarty said, “Documenting this powerful spiritual and human awakening reinforced the core message of our film: Authentic human connection, emotional well-being and spiritual depth flourish when we intentionally step away from digital dependency and reconnect with reality — especially with God.”

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