When a young Benedetta (Elena Plonka) enters the convent to be a novice, she is told that her body is her worst enemy and that intelligence can be very dangerous. But in the house of God, miracles happen, and for Benedetta (Virginie Efira) it comes in the form of Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia) with whom she develops a romantic love affair while suffering from disturbing religious and erotic visions.
The movie opens with a miraculous display from a young Benedetta when she calls on the Blessed Virgin to make a group of bandits give her mother’s necklace back. The circle of miracles follows Benedetta as she becomes more and more convinced of her duty as a wife to Jesus (Jonathan Couzinié). She daydreams of meeting and speaking with him. Given the oppression by the church, Benedetta struggles to become intimate with Jesus. But the tide changes with the arrival of Bartolomea who becomes a vessel for Benedetta to show her love to the universe.
Directed by Paul Verhoeven, the movie plays with several themes to explore the suppression of women done by the church. From the get-go, we see how the nuns aren’t allowed to change around each other. Benedetta hasn’t seen her own body given the restrictions whereas Bartolomea never owned a mirror. When Benedetta accidentally sees Bartolomea’s breasts, she is taken aback. She runs to check her own skin in a blurry reflection on a dish. When Benedetta and Bartolomea get intimate, they finally see each other, rapt in pleasure while using a sacrilegious sex toy as a means to express their sexuality.
Benedettauses many extreme theatrical elements to prove her visions of Jesus are true. She strongly believes that everything she’s doing is a call from God, much like when you lie so much you believe it. For the audience, Bartolomea becomes the conscience as she desperately tries to make Benedetta admit that her miracles and scars were her inventions but Benedetta—like any magician—doesn’t reveal her tricks.
Leading Benedetta is the powerhouse Efira. She embodies every part of her character, from her mysterious innocence to her raging nightmares. Supporting Efira in a pulsating performance is Patakia as Bartolomea. She brings a playfulness to her character that colors the screen as well as Benedetta’s life. Also, Rampling is stunning yet restrained as The Abbess and Lambert Wilson as Nuncio brings the selfishness and cruelty of the Catholic church to life.
Verhoeven is a master at his craft and knows how to balance the line of provocation while exhibiting the power structures and hypocrisies of the church and sexual repression. With great performances from the cast, Benedetta has an intoxicating vibrancy that grips you from the start till the end.