Padre Pio

Padre Pio is often as rewarding as it is challenging.

Ferrara’s Padre Pio is not the hero of his movie, far from it. But his sainted Pio does pose moral quandaries that may require heroic effort to reconcile.

It's like two totally different movies have been slammed up against each other.

It’s hard to say that this time the strange disjunctions between premise and execution will leave most viewers with much tangible reward.

A dull slog, an oil-and-water hybrid of two different films, both with interesting ideas that never cohere into interesting filmmaking.

The movie reignites long-ago events by the spark of physical contact, and its age-old difficulties illuminate current turmoils and battles with an absolute rage that appears to be very much like the filmmaker’s own.

It’s not immediately clear what drew Ferrara to this story or this style... The formalities of neo-realism actually seem to suit him

Dedicated in the closing credits to the people of Ukraine, Padre Pio aims to restore a measure of faith, not in humanity, which is manifestly wicked, but in the person who suffered and died for all.

Choppy, unpolished and undeveloped, Padre Pio will certainly divide audiences.

Replete with bold catholic imagery and painful moments of confrontational longing that recalls Ferrara‘s best work, Padre Pio is still a few rosaries short of a blessing.