Benedetta (2022) Dir. Paul Verhoeven

After co-starring in Paul Verhoeven’s previous film Elle, Virginie Efira stars as Benedetta Carlini in an erotic offering focusing on a love affair between two women at a convent in the 17^th century.

On entering the convent as a very young girl, Benedetta grows up in her strict religious surroundings under the oversight of Abbess Felicita (an excellent Charlotte Rampling) who tries her best to ensure Benedetta follows Jesus’ teachings.

But when Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia) arrives to escape an abusive father, the relationship between her and Benedetta develops into more than just a platonic one.

Unsurprisingly given the film’s topic, Verhoeven adds his prominent voyeuristic undertones with racy scenes of intimacy between the two women. But in general, it’s more seductive than salacious and it’s contrasted with the harsh realities and violence of the period as well as unglamorous bodily functions and illness.

The symbolic link between Benedetta’s situation and images of the Virgin Mary and Christ’s body is pushed pretty to the forefront but the performances are strong, the cinematography gorgeous and the protagonist’s story is always engaging.

A number of Bible stories are re-enacted by the nuns and the director blurs the lines by positioning these performances against Benedetta’s dreamy visions of symbolic relics, tempting snakes and encounters with The Lord.

The convent is seemingly in awe of Benedetta’s mystical powers but as her illicit relationship is discovered she feels the wrath of the church powers as her sexual freedom finds friction with her faith.

As always, the controversial depiction of religion and sexuality (especially its lesbian relationship) has resulted in the usual fundamentalist suspects protesting against the film. However, those with more liberal sensibilities will find much to enjoy in its multi-layered provocative parable with added new testament titillation.

And so Benedetta ends as a satisfying period drama with terrific turns from the whole cast. And combined with a tiny dash of the director’s raunchy worldview, it maintains an engaging tone rather than a sermon from the pulpit. Exploring spirituality and sapphism, Benedetta demonstrates that even in his 80s Paul Verhoeven still can mix suggestiveness and substance with excellent results.

★★★★☆

Michael Sales