Benedetta

Benedetta

A 17th-century nun becomes entangled in a forbidden lesbian affair with a novice. But it is Benedetta's shocking religious visions that threaten to shake the Church to its core.

  • Released: 2021-07-09
  • Runtime: 127 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, History, Romance
  • Stars: Virginie Efira, Charlotte Rampling, Daphne Patakia, Lambert Wilson, Olivier Rabourdin, Clotilde Courau, Louise Chevillotte, Hervé Pierre, Guilaine Londez, Alexia Chardard, Quentin D'Hainaut, Jonathan Couzinié, Satya Dusaugey, Antoine Lelandais, David Clavel, Nicolas Gaspar, Gaëlle Jantet, Justine Bachelet, Lauriane Riquet, Eléna Plonka, Héloïse Bresc, Vinciane Millereau, Jérôme Chappatte, Ewan Ribard, Nicolas Béguinot, Pedro Radicic, Benjamin Penemaria, Frédéric Sauzay, Sophie Breyer, Célia Kaci, Alexia Chardard, Sébastien Chabane, Boris Gillot, Léa Lopez, Olga Milshtein, Pascal Le Corre, Raphaël Potier, Philippe Saunier, Fabrice Cals, Gaëlle Jeantet
  • Director: Paul Verhoeven
 Comments
  • deospam-04962 - 29 March 2024
    If you believe that Benedeta manifests the word and action of God then the Devil has fooled you again. God is love.
    This is not a film that depicts God. Benedeta is the Devil's incarnation. Given to lust, sacrilege, corruption, speaking in the voice and with the tone of the Beast, creating falsehoods, doubts and deceptive in appearances, the Devil manifests in protean forms to deceive. God is love and peace and that is never consistently displayed in Benedeta. A snarling and enraged God? Yeah right.

    Unfortunately the truely religious clergy are portrayed as given to human failings and no match for the guile of the Devil. The populace in turn are fooled into turning against religious authority because of the failings of their leadership and the Devil's cunning and deceit.

    This is a sad movie for the true believers in Christ because the clergy is cast in such a bad light and the Devil may succeed in making the viewer doubt their faith. If you believe that Benedeta manifests the word and action of God then the Devil has fooled you again. God is love.

    Don't let Paul Verhoeven mislead you into thinking he knows how to make a religious movie. There is no true display of authenticity of Christian faith. This is a Layman's view of what a religious movie should look like. But it's pure Verhoeven camp. Showgirls in nuns habits. Gratuitous nudity and lactating women say it all.
  • Sooner_88 - 20 May 2023
    Paul Verhoeven giving it a second go around post Showgirls, and pulls it off dramatically
    His films range in a variety of political themes from many decades he's been in show business. When you watch his films, you start to guess when the narrative would take those turns, well no surprise here, its interwoven into the spine of the story. Sex starved nuns? Check. Plague creating outer conflict surrounding the internal one? Check. Anti-religious views and hypocrisy? Check again? That last one seems too on the nose just by looking at the poster, but this is more of a story based on actual events that I don't know all too well, but totally buy it.

    Virginie Efira plays a woman named Benedetta, learning the lifelong practice of becoming a worshipper of the lord, or in shorter terms, a Nun. She one day crosses paths with a hoodlum girl that she vouches to stay in the company of the holy sacrament. This is where the story kicks into another gear, as both characters journey into a licentious and promiscuous lesbian relationship that at first seems genuine but, turns volatile by its end. Her performance is strong as the lead, portraying a young woman that walks the line between surreptitious acquiescence and obsequious innocence. This is balanced with the naiver Bartolomea character played by Daphne Patakia who at ever chance flirts with irreverence to her surroundings or fellow nuns. Keeping the story contentious is head nun, Soeur Felicita played by the great actress Charlotte Rampling who to my surprise, didn't know she was in the movie. She brings an austerity to the role, that creates conflicting crises for both girls through most of the film. It's core three characters are surrounded by excellent supporting cast, with another surprise appearance by another great French actor in Lambert Wilson.

    The theme here can pontificate an old age tale, but I respect its candor in the set designs, and natural lighting. Set in 17th century Italy, you believe that its mostly if not all practical, with one or maybe two scenes that require special effects (eclipses, or snake) but nothing more than a traditional approach to old period piece film setting. The dialogue is good, sometimes effusive and often times coquettish. Also is mostly spoken in Italian, and I prefer it no other way.

    Paul Verhoeven is a master filmmaker. From his sci-fi work to Benedetta, there's always something that I admired about his verbose themes, parable character arcs, and most times over the top violence and nudity. Which is probably what most think when it comes to Verhoeven. Benedetta is more than that. It's a well-crafted adaptation of a historical narrative wither true or not, is worth a viewing.

    9/10.
  • nicroeg73 - 11 August 2022
    Nothing new
    Entertaining trash from start to finish (as usual from Verhoeven), the movie has one big flaw: it's not original. The movie basically tries to sell nunsploitation, torture to the new generation of moviegoers who don't watch movies from the seventies where everything you see in "Benedetta" was already done. The strong-willed nun - take for example FLAVIA THE HERETIC. The graphic torture scene - we saw the same scene in LOVE LETTERS OF A PORTUGUESE NUN. And so on, nothing new. The leading lady is unfortunately below average, Daphné Patakia is a much better actress (although she is naked almost in the whole movie - interestingly Verhoeven fails to film anything erotic here, Patakia's much less number of nude scenes in DJAM were far more erotic).

    Rampling and Wilson are the best thing in the cast though, all the others are bland and forgettable. The music is also terribly forgettable, they don't use melodies anymore, only the usual Hollywood crap disguised as a score, anybody could have written that.

    To sum up, it is entertaining but sadly unoriginal. Boring leading actress, terrible CGI, good supporting actors, predictable script. You may watch FLAVIA with the great Florinda Bolkan, or STORY OF A CLOISTERED NUN instead.
  • calzonesylvia - 20 May 2022
    A Definite Shift from Verhoeven's Cyberpunk Works
    I wrote a review of this film on Letterboxd, but that site is down at the moment and I'm not able to access the entirety my original review for this film, so I'm reviewing it from memory.

    Benedetta is about the titular character, who sees visions of Jesus and gets promoted for reporting those visions but gets in trouble, along with her partner, and nearly killed when she is found out to be in a homosexual relationship.

    This film has decent cinematography and pretty good performances, but if you're familiar with Paul Verhoeven through films like Robocop (1987) and Total Recall (1990), this film isn't necessarily for you.
  • Johnny_Young - 13 April 2022
    Burst out laughing multiple times....but didn't hate it!
    I enjoyed this in the same way I enjoyed the director's other films (Robocop and a little film called SHOWGIRLS) they are ridiculous, over-the-top, and unashamed!

    I could not decide if this film was trying to be a romance, a historical drama, a comedy? It was trying to make a point, and nearly got there with some interesting touches, but ultimately it seems to be about what you expect: something-something-forbidden-something-Horny Nuns.

    It's definitely written from the male gaze and the romance was a real head scratcher to me- no slow burning seduction, just straight into it.

    A few scenes made me burst out laughing, which I don't think is the desired affect but enjoyable either way.