Synopsis
A 17th-century nun 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.
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Cast
- Virginie EfiraSister Benedetta Carlini
- Charlotte RamplingSister Felicita
- Daphné PatakiaBartolomea
- Lambert WilsonNuncio
- Olivier RabourdinAlfonso Cecchi
- Louise ChevillotteSister Christina
- Hervé PierrePaolo Ricordati
- Clotilde CourauMidea Carlini
- David ClavelGiuliano Carlini
- Guilaine LondezSister Jacopa
Recommendations
- 89
TheWrap
You can’t call a film as lurid and alive as Benedetta a closing statement, but there is something valedictory about the erotic religious drama, which finds time to explore questions of voyeurism, sadism, masochism, systems of power, perversion, repression, rebellion, storytelling, divinity, irony and belief. Oh, and sex — plenty and plenty of nun-on-nun sex. - 83
The Playlist
If Benedetta is a joke that Verhoeven is in on, and that is designed to play to those in on it too, we can at least be thankful that it’s a good joke – not that there’s anyone up there to be thankful to. - 83
The Film Stage
Verhoeven, as always, is more interested in playing games and is always at his best when needling an audience’s ideas of good taste. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
We may never know if Benedetta was sincere about her visions in the end, just as it’s impossible to judge how sincere Verhoeven is when he’s indulging in the erotic visions that have made him famous. The beauty of Benedetta is that it never provides a straightforward answer to all of our questions, making it mostly a matter of faith. - 80
The Telegraph
As a statement, Benedetta won’t win any awards for coherence, but there’s just Too Much Verhoeven going on here for sensation hunters ever to feel short-changed. - 75
Slant Magazine
Throughout Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven builds up a heady, campy mix of religious imagery, corporeal abjectness, and masochism. - 58
IndieWire
Despite a handful of headline-worthy moments and a generally blasphemous — or perhaps just humanistic? — attitude toward the dogmas of the Catholic Church, Benedetta can’t help but feel like one of Verhoeven’s tamer efforts. - 50
Variety
With its haters-be-damned approach to all things carnal, Benedetta is intended to arouse, thereby satisfying the most basic definition of pornography, even if Verhoeven (who claims a certain scholarly interest in the subject as well) does surround the titillating bits with illuminating insights into Renaissance religious life.
