I know people respond differently to art and I’m sure this will be true of Lincoln. (9% of Rotten Tomatoes critics have given it a “rotten” review, for reasons I cannot fathom.) But, for me, watching this film was not just enjoyable and engaging, but also stunning and transformational.

Once in a great while when I see a film in a theater, I find myself not wanting to move when it’s over. Even after the credits stop rolling, I wish I could just sit in silence and remain in the moment. I want to think, to feel, to respond to the art I have just witnessed. My soul has been touched and I want to let this touch have its full effect.

Lincoln is such a film. After I saw it last night, I wanted to remain in the theater. If only the cleaning crew could have gone away for a while so I could sit in stunned silence. But, alas, there was popcorn to be swept up and cups to be thrown away, so I left the theater before my reflections were over.

Why was I so moved by Lincoln? Well, it certainly wasn’t the surprise plot twists of an altogether familiar story. Going in to the film, I knew what happened with the Civil War, with the Thirteenth-Amendment, and with President Lincoln shortly after the amendment passed. So, it wasn’t the plot that stirred my soul. Rather, it was several other things:

• The stunning acting of Daniel Day-Lewis, who so embodied Abraham Lincoln that I simply could not see Day-Lewis at all.

• The painful horror of slavery in America and the poisonous racism it leavened into our culture.

• The astounding reality of human depravity and the astounding reality of human virtue.

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