Benedetta

Based on the true story of a 17th-century nun, who both claimed to be able to perform miracles and quietly pursued a lesbian affair in her convent, the Dutch-born director's newest drama will have viewers blushing into their popcorn.

The film relishes that sort of impious thinking in a colourful, mordant tale.

The ceremonial restraint that defines contemporary mainstream lesbian romances like Carol and Disobedience is here abandoned with, well, abandon. ... To add to the viewers distress, the picture is as deafeningly loud as it is tiresomely provocative.

Lurches between entertainingly camp and shamelessly lurid.

In Benedetta, master provocateur Paul Verhoeven demolishes the line between the sacred and the profane.

It could only be more deeply Paul Verhoeven if RoboCop strode in to take the veil.

For all of its rejection of religious norms and celebration of sexual autonomy and rebellion, what’s most fascinating about Benedetta is how it equally champions the enduring mystery of Faith.

What’s most intriguing in the film is its sycophantic religious politics — not the romance. The politicking and faux puritanism are executed cogently, often more riveting than its other parts.

With a classic style that's almost baroque, Paul Verhoeven delivers a delirious journey that's a little wild and exaggerated. [Full review in Spanish]

Verhoeven uses blasphemy like a butterfly knife to pierce the hypocritical doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church.