REVIEW: Benedetta

Benedetta Carlini was a young nun from Pescia, Italy, devoted to God with all her heart. She claimed she had visions and even had conversations with him. Thanks to such dialogues, she felt it was okay for her to have a love affair with another nun - Bartholomew.

Legendary director Paul Verhoeven's film focuses on how miracles appeared in Benedetta's life from the very beginning, how she couldn't resist the temptation and became a lesbian. How she was judged for it and how she couldn't handle all of the psychological pressures and visions with Jesus Christ. According to historical records, Benedetta died, came back to life, and claimed to have seen the purgatory and the deceased.

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The film Benedetta deals with all of the above while dramatizing some events accordingly. There is no detailed description of her entire life, so the director undoubtedly must've made a few things up. The film spans more than two hours, during which you'll witness many scenes that have caused controversy and embarrassing opinions in society.

The film doesn't censor the naked sex scenes

Benedetta was a lesbian, and the director delves into this aspect of her life with fully detailed sex scenes. Nudity is "on the agenda" in several scenes, and sexual acts aren't censored in any way. However, most of the hot scenes have already been displayed in the trailers.

Scenes that depicted the church in an awful light could also be problematic for the general public. Torture, deception, sin, and many of their actions wouldn't stand before God. They didn't hold back from showing any of that in the film. We definitely got sick a few times while watching the movie.

Same as with sex, the director doesn't bother censoring any of the brutal shots in which the characters harm someone else or suffer from serious illnesses. The plague was raging in Italy at the time, of which many people have died. Even before that, though, it had caused ugly injuries on their bodies, which were sometimes really difficult to look at.

The beginning is a little boring, but it gets real interesting later

That can be said of the film as such and from a general point of view as well. As mentioned, Benedetta is more than two hours long, while the first half of the film drags on quite a bit. We don't remember much of it, and quite honestly, the film could be a bit shorter in order to captivate the viewer more.

The action doesn't start until the second half when many great scenes unfold. We're talking dialogues, investigation of Benedetta, or the very conclusion that will keep your eyes glued to the screen.

Big up to the actresses for the way they handled the nude scenes

The actresses - Virginie Efira (Benedetta) and Daphne Patakia (Bartolomea), whose character was tortured by the church members, deserve a special shoutout. While delivering an excellent acting performance, mastering such challenging scenes requires tremendous mental determination.

The film is interestingly intertwined with religious themes. We were most impressed by how the director portrayed Benedetta's "supernatural" abilities. Even after the film was over, it wasn't really clear whether Benedetta was aware of being an antagonist or if she successfully convinced herself that she was doing God's work.

From this point of view, the film is extremely successful, and the viewers can easily find themselves watching closely to reveal the truth in Benedetta's behavior. So you can translate the meaning of the film in several ways, and it's definitely one of those movies that would be worth seeing a second time. For this reason, it would be quite helpful for the film to be cut down accordingly.

Benedetta was quite obviously filmed by professionals. It captivates with its story and characters and is equally appreciated by the church's critics. There's no holding back when it comes to depicting the church here. The film boasts great acting performances and authentic treatment of history, whether it is people's behavior or the atmosphere and scenery of the time.

However, the first half is almost impossible to watch, and at times its exaggerated footage feels almost painful. We give this one seven points out of ten thanks to the successful finale.