NEW ULM — The New Ulm Film Society will conclude the Coen Brothers’ film series with a screening of the 2016 film “Hail, Caesar!”

The screening starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 11, in the New Ulm Public Library and is free to the public.

The film is set in 1950s Hollywood. Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) is a fixer for movie studio Capitol Pictures. His job is to clean up any problems the studio has that could threaten their movies. This frequently involves getting actors out of trouble when they make mistakes that could ruin their reputation. During one extremely turbulent day, in which studio star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped, Mannix finds himself questioning his allegiance to the film studio after receiving an offer to an arguably higher calling.

“Hail, Caesar!” fit perfectly into the Coen Brothers’ filmography. Several common Coen tropes are repurposed. Like their previous films, the movie is set in the past, features inept criminals and poses questions on the nature of God, religion and other institutions. However, “Hail, Caesar!” is a unique Coen film that leans towards faith in a higher power.

Coen films frequently have characters questioning their faith, but often there is no answer to the question. Coen’s 2009 film “A Serious Man” is about the struggle over the ambiguity of faith, with bad things happening for seemingly no reason with no resolution.

In “Hail, Caesar!,” characters who sacrifice and keep their faith are rewarded. Most of the movie is centered around making a Bible movie about a Roman soldier who meets Jesus Christ before the crucifixion. Since the film is considered to be very important to the studio, Mannix is doing everything in his power to make sure filming goes smoothly.

In one scene, Mannix arranges a meeting between multiple religious figures to make sure the film script about Jesus Christ is not offensive to any of the major faiths. The scene turns into a discussion of the different Christian and Hebrew philosophies of religion. Not only is the scene fascinating, but it is also one of the funniest parts of the film.

Mannix is himself a practicing Catholic. He is seen confessing his sins in an early scene. His greatest concern is that his job as a Hollywood fixer is inherently sinful. His job requires him to cover up the sins of famous actors. This twist is that Mannix has become something of a Christ-like figure for the actors working in the studio. He helps absolve them of their sins, allowing them to continue acting in a film about Christ. By making sure the movie can be made, Mannix is effectively helping spread a message of religious faith.

“Hail, Caesar!” is also a love letter to movies from the studio age, which was coming to an end in the 1950s. Around the time this film was set, movie studios were forced by law to divest their movie theaters. This made it harder to turn a profit on movies. At the same time, the film industry was struggling with competition from television programming. The big, lavish studio pictures were becoming a thing of the past. “Hail, Caesar!” resurrects the spectacle of a long-gone method of producing films.

Multiple scenes are dedicated to Mannix watching elaborately choreographed dance numbers. The scenes do not necessarily further the plot but convey to the audience what Mannix is protecting through his work.

Many Coen films feature themes of nihilism, a belief that life is meaningless, but “Hail, Caesar!” is a film that argues there is meaning, and that even entertainment that seems silly or frivolous has value.