Benedetta
Director Paul Verhoeven reteams with Elle star Virginie Efira and producer Saïd Ben Saïd for this true story drama set in 17th-century Italy.
A novice nun falls in love with a female companion from whom she receives help for her persistent, disturbing erotic and religious visions.
Less2020Rating: R18, Violence, sexual violence, sex scenes & content that may disturb131 minsFranceFrench with English subtitles
DramaTrue Story & Biography
- Director:
- Paul Verhoeven ('Total Recall', 'Elle', 'RoboCop')
- Writer:
- David BirkePaul Verhoeven
- Cast:
- Virginie EfiraLambert WilsonDaphne PatakiaOlivier RabourdinClotilde CourauCharlotte RamplingHervé PierreLouise ChevillotteNicolas Gaspar
Benedetta | Reviews
84%191 reviewsRotten Tomatoes® Score
All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
The Guardian
Verhoeven may have to do some contrite murmuring in the confessional for this one.
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Hollywood Reporter
The narrative can feel a bit clunky... although Verhoeven throws in a few funny lines and enough action to keep Benedetta from descending into a long-winded sacrilegious exposé...
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Variety
Paul Verhoeven’s lesbian nun drama pushes the envelope on sexuality, but proves fairly conventional in most other respects.
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Screen Daily
It’s the tone that’s off here, as it is throughout a film which seems to wink at what it perhaps wants us to see as irony... while keeping both eyes firmly open.
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Slant Magazine
A heady, campy mix of religious imagery, corporeal abjectness, and masochism.
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IGN
Equal parts funny, sensual and incendiary, it's a committed work... even if its exploration of the war between body and spirit occasionally falls short.
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The Globe and Mail
As ever, (Verhoeven) is just as invested in salacious shock as he is in itchy profundity.
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Wall Street Journal
Elegantly crafted, formidably well performed and as fascinating as it is lurid.
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The New York Times
Verhoeven brings more vitality to his work than many filmmakers half his age, and his screenplay (with David Birke) is a tasteless hoot...
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Benedetta | Trailers
Benedetta | News & Opinion
reviews
Like a fart in church, Paul Verhoeven’s Benedetta is deliriously sacred and profane
Virginie Efira is plagued by messianic visions – and also the Plague – in this racy religious drama.
features
Paul Verhoeven tells us about historical drama (and lesbian nun pic) Benedetta
“It’s not so far away, strangely enough, from Total Recall”
Benedetta | Release Details
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