Benedetta
Directed by PAUL VERHOEVEN
Starring VIRGINIE EFIRA, CHARLOTTE RAMPLING, DAPHNE PATAKIA
Released 24 JULY
ANTICIPATION.
Verhoeven! Nuns! Blasphemy! Oh my! 4
ENJOYMENT.
Efira is on top form; everyone else is having a blast. 4
IN RETROSPECT.
A cheeky tall tale from a master provocateur. 4
euniting with his co-writer David Birke, Paul recalls the salacious life of the blessed lady (Virginie Efira) who first appears as a precocious child who claims the Virgin Mary speaks to her. Her doting parents purchase a place for Benedetta Carlini in the Pescia convent of Tuscany, run by the shrewd, money-minded Abbess (Charlotte Rampling) and it’s here that Benedetta comes into her own, experiencing visions of Jesus and devoting herself to a divine higher power. That is, until the impish Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia) seeks sanctuary at the convent from her abusive father and brother; Benedetta’s parents pay her way into the church, and a clandestine mutual attraction rapidly develops between the two.
