Father Stu is a 2022 biographical drama film starring Mark Wahlberg as Stuart Long, a boxer-turned-Catholic priest who lives with a progressive muscle disorder.

Stuart Long, a foul-mouthed amateur boxer from Helena, Montana, has a troubled relationship with his parents, who have been hostile towards religion since his brother's death.

He moves to Southern California to pursue an acting career and gets a job in a grocery store, hoping to get connected in the entertainment industry.

While working in the store, Stu meets a woman named Carmen whom he tracks to a local Catholic parish where she teaches Sunday school.

Stu agrees and begins RCIA at the parish, where he befriends fellow parishioners Ham and Jacob but is looked down upon by the latter.

After Stu lands an acting role in an infomercial, he faces discouragement and returns to the bar one night where a mysterious man advises him not to drive home.

He moves back to Montana with his parents, who care for him as his muscles decay, his weight increases, and he loses the ability to live independently.

His father, meanwhile, attends Alcoholics Anonymous, where he admits that he feels partly responsible for his son's condition by his neglect and absence.

The closing credits show photos of the real-life Stu as a child, young adult, seminarian and priest.

[14] Long's parents, Bill and Kathleen, were involved with the production, as were numerous bishops, priests, and laymen who knew Father Stu.

Wahlberg intentionally gained 30 pounds (14 kg) in six weeks to portray Long, consuming up to 7,000 calories a day.

[20] Wahlberg attended an advance screening of the film at Carroll College in Helena, from which Father Stu graduated and where he later served as a campus minister.

[25] In the United States and Canada, Father Stu was projected to gross around $7 million from 2,705 theaters over its five-day opening weekend.

The website's critics consensus reads: "Mark Wahlberg is hard-working but miscast in Father Stu, an issue compounded by the way the movie fumbles its fact-based story.

"[35] Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote: "Father Stu is not your everyday Hollywood religious odyssey – it's closer to Diary of a Country Cutup.

"[36] Mark Wahlberg was nominated for a Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for his performance in the film.