Review: The Catholic Church abuse scandal hits France in 'By the Grace of God,' and the powerful drama will make you furious

One of the major themes of "By the Grace of God," a brilliantly nuanced, coolly devastating account of a pedophilia scandal in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lyon, France, is the difficulty of getting even like-minded people to agree on tactics. In one scene, a sexual-abuse survivor, Alexandre (Melvil Poupaud), suggests to another, Francois (Denis Menochet), that he revise a statement that will be presented to the media. "You need to be more neutral and factual," Alexandre says. "Take out the poetry and the anger."

Watching this sprawling but fine-tuned drama, you may at first wonder if writer-director Francois Ozon took at least some of Alexandre's advice. Audiences who know Ozon from "Swimming Pool," "Double Lover" and other thrillers of sly erotic mischief