Verhoeven’s latest shocker based on true story
‘Benedetta’ tells the story of famed 17th-century nun
Prepare this week to meet up with an intriguing cast of characters in both movie theaters and streaming services, from a lesbian nun afflicted with shocking religious visions to a young man who thinks and acts like he’s a wolf. There’s even a reality TV star chronicling his coming-out process. Are any of them worth watching? Read on.
“BENEDETTA” >> At 83, Paul Verhoeven — the filmmaker behind “Showgirls,” “Basic Instinct” and “Elle” — remains as provocative and relevant as ever. His latest shrewd production is based on a true story and socks it to religious patriarchy and its pious views on sexuality. Set mostly in a 17th-century convent in Tuscany, it’s about the famed nun Benedetta Carlini (played well by Virginie Efira), a novice prone to religious visions of Christ that upset the male-dominated church. Her sexual relationship with another nun, Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia), rattles them even more, including a by-the-book abbess (Charlotte Rampling).
Verhoeven co-wrote the screenplay and throws in overlong and racy sexual bits along with a few beheadings, but his sweeping epic (the street scenes are tremendous) has much more on its mind than just sex and flesh.
Does it all work? Not entirely, since it gets unruly and goofy. Still, it’s searing entertainment that passionately and liberally adapts San Francisco author and historian Judith C. Brown’s book, “Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy.”
DETAILS >> \*\*\* out of 4; in select theaters Friday, available on demand Dec. 21.
“ENCOUNTER” >> There’s much to admire about Michael Pearce’s gutsy genre-infused drama that features Riz Ahmed’s rich and committed performance. Too bad the director’s follow-up to his cagy British is-he-or-isn’t-he-a-serial-killer thriller “Beast” doesn’t always work, and will likely provoke outrage among die-hard sci-fi fans. Ahmed stars as an ex-Marine suffering from PTSD, Marine Malik, who’s desperate to save his two sons (Lucian-River Chauhan and Aditya Geddada) from a global disturbance wherein something alien nests inside of the body.
Pearce keeps us off-balance throughout, making us wonder if Malik has lost his mind or if there really is a looming threat. While it’s much more ambitious than traditional fare, Pearce sometimes overreaches.
The cast — notably Ahmed, the two young actors and Octavia Spencer as a parole officer with a heart in a heartless world — is outstanding,
and the atmosphere and production details are intricately rendered.
Pearce has an original voice and has something worthy to relate. Now if only he’d smooth out some of the rough edges in his storytelling.
DETAILS >> \*\*/*; in theaters Friday, streams Dec. 10 on Amazon Prime.
“COMING OUT COLTON” >> The object of both derision and desire, former “Bachelor” reality TV star/ football player Colton Underwood turns to the genre that made him famous so he can relate his coming-out story, which is told in a sixepisode Netflix series. The results are better than you’d expect.
With Olympic skiing star Gus Kenworthy as his jaunty, no BS gay guide, the 30-minute episodes find Underwood coming out to relatives, friends, former football coaches, his pastor and church guy buddies. He doesn’t always meet with blanket acceptance,
and it’s when he doesn’t that this contrived but mostly effective series excels. Particularly potent and powerful are a conversation with a “homosexuality is a sin” pastor; his time learning to embrace his gayness with the charismatic Kenworthy along his side; and his meetup with gay former NFL players — David Kopay, Esera Tuaolo and Michael Sam.
It’s doubtful the series will likely convert Underwood’s steadfast critics, or those who are convinced this is all a publicity stunt. But if it helps just one LGBTQ kid or adult feel less alone and misunderstood, it has done its job well indeed. DETAILS >> \*\*/*; available Friday on Netflix.
“WOLF” >> Daring, original and unconventional, Nathalie Biancheri’s sophomore film defies categorization but stays true to its central themes about the casualties of being a nonconformist and the cruelties perpetrated on those who are institutionalized.
It’s mostly a fierce critique of the psychiatry profession and features an astonishing performance from George MacKay, one of our most exciting and versatile talents. The “1917” actor flings himself into the role of Jacob, a teen who thinks he is a wolf. Jacob’s exasperated parents cart him off to a clinic that specializes in treating the young who assume the traits of animals and mammals. Jacob eventually bonds with “Wildcat” (Lily Rose Depp), another patient at the sterile clinic in the countryside. When Jacob’s questionable therapy sessions with the mad doctor (Paddy Considine) grow more sinister and unorthodox, he faces a crushing decision.
Biancheri should be commended for being genre defiant while MacKay should be awarded for his performance, but this is by no means for all tastes.
DETAILS >> \*\*\*; in theaters Friday.
“SILENT NIGHT” >> A nasty batch of bad cheer gets served in writerdirector Camille Griffin’s feature debut, a bleak, rancid holiday film filled with irritating characters. Capably acted by Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, “Jo Jo Rabbit’s” Roman Griffin Davis — the director’s son — and others, “Silent” imagines a depressing final Christmas gathering for a group of self-interested, annoying British chums as they wait out an imminent apocalypse. The gift of this season is a government-encouraged death pill to spare people the agony of an encroaching noxious gas.
What starts as a formulaic holiday comedy shifts into dark territory, and the change in tones is hardly smooth. Credit the actors for giving it their all, but this is a despairing bummer that lacks a reason for being.
DETAILS >> \*\*; opens today in theaters and streams exclusively on AMC+.