Benedetta
Belgium • 2021
Director
Synopsis
The ever-provocative Paul Verhoeven brings his subversive vision to a seventeenth-century convent for this ecstatically blasphemous tale of religion, sex, scandal, and plague inspired by the true story of Benedetta Carlini (played by Virginie Efira), an Italian nun who 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. Far from a standard biopic, Verhoeven’s take on the story transforms Benedetta’s life into a delirious, salaciously satirical melodrama roiling with eros and violence.
Synopsis
The ever-provocative Paul Verhoeven brings his subversive vision to a seventeenth-century convent for this ecstatically blasphemous tale of religion, sex, scandal, and plague inspired by the true story of Benedetta Carlini (played by Virginie Efira), an Italian nun who 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. Far from a standard biopic, Verhoeven’s take on the story transforms Benedetta’s life into a delirious, salaciously satirical melodrama roiling with eros and violence.
Credits
Crew
DirectorPaul Verhoeven
WriterDavid Birke, Paul Verhoeven
CinematographerJeanne Lapoirie
ComposerAnne Dudley
EditorJob ter Burg
ProducerJérôme Seydoux, Saïd Ben Saïd, Michel Merkt