Film Review: BENEDETTA (2021): Paul Verhoeven’s Most Ambitious Film to Date Will Certainly Fascinate Viewers

Benedetta Review

Benedetta (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Virginie Efira, Daphne Patakia, Charlotte Rampling, Lambert Wilson, Oliver Rabourdin, Herve Pierre, Clotilde Courau, Guilaine Londez, Elena Plonka, Jonathan Couzinie and Heloise Bresc.

Director Paul Verhoeven has tackled many different ambitious projects throughout his career. He has constantly intrigued audiences through the movies he has decided to make. With pictures as different in nature as the original Robocop, Showgirls and Starship Troopers, he’s always been a director whose films possess wild originality and skillful craftsmanship. It comes as no surprise that his new film, Benedetta, is among his most daring and unique films. This new film features stellar performances and touches on complex themes of religion, love, sacrifice and what it’s like to pursue passions that may have been better left unexplored. That’s not to say that a life without passion is always a fulfilled one but the consequences the characters in this film face are overwhelming and disturbing in their excesses.

Inspired by true events and set in the 17th century, Belgian actress Virginie Efira portrays the title character, a nun named Benedetta Carlini. Elena Plonka plays her as a young girl who is sold to a convent by her parents as the movie begins. Benedetta prays and a statue comes crashing down on her, but she miraculously survives. When time passes, and she is an adult, a young dark-haired woman named Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia) who is being abused by her father comes to seek help and is reluctantly taken into the convent. The convent is run by Sister Felicita (the great Charlotte Rampling) who is strict and disciplined. It is clear she will not tolerate wrongdoings.

As Benedetta and Bartolomea begin to get closer, a relationship develops between them that is sexual in nature. The most controversial aspect of the film will certainly be the sexual pleasuring device which is made from a miniature statue of the Virgin Mary, but the movie has a lot more that happens during its duration which can leave viewers conflicted according to their own personal beliefs. A lot of scenes are bound to provoke a response from audiences who choose to view the film.

A particularly intriguing scene comes when Benedetta is attacked by several snakes and is rescued. I won’t tell you who, exactly, rescues her and whether or not the scenario is a dream, but the movie focuses in on Benedetta’s beliefs that shape her life. For one, Jesus and her faith in Him is a large part of her life. However, she comes to form a real bond with Bartolomea that makes her feel things she has never experienced before. These two characters do have realistic physical and emotional chemistry together and both actresses create a believable and provocative relationship on screen.

Benedetta receives stigmata in a key plot point, and some don’t believe that she really did. Benedetta is said to have inflicted the wounds upon herself by another woman in the convent who ends up committing suicide. All this leads up to the two female lovers confronting their inner feelings and having to confess their affair (which is witnessed through a peephole by Rampling’s character) and, most likely, pay the extreme consequences.

There are many explicit and graphic scenes of sex and violence in Benedetta, but the movie is very well made. The supporting performances are all top notch with Rampling and Lambert Wilson, in a fierce turn, as The Nuncio taking top honors. However, Efira and Patakia are the movie’s main attractions. Both actresses are vulnerable on screen and capture the complicated emotions involved in their characters’ forbidden affair. Patakia, in particular, plays her role with so much intensity that the part really dominates at times over Efira’s title role. Towards the end, however, the film shifts back to Efira and the concluding scenes are very powerful.

There are a number of dream sequences here which involve Jesus and other religious scenarios that will make viewers question their faith and what they would do in the same situation in the time period the film is set. The sex scenes are all done with artistic integrity and never feel pornographic. Since the audience can become very invested in the lead characters, it’s to Verhoeven’s credit that the story is expertly executed and the sexual scenes simply complement the story line rather than define it.

Paul Verhoeven has added another well crafted, emotionally intense film to his resume. Benedetta could have been a lot less successful in another less experienced director’s hands but even as good as it is, the picture remains strictly for mature audiences. You can focus on either the religious or romantic overtones but, either way, people who devote their patience and understanding to the story line will find the rewards will be plentiful.

Rating: 8/10

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