Cardinal sin

Gripping telling of the true- life historical sex abuse scandal within France’s Catholic Church

BY THE GRACE OF GOD Melvil Poupaud, Denis Ménochet, Swann Arlaud, Eric Caravaca, François Marthouret

French queer filmmaker François Ozon has giv en us some wild rides in the past, but his latest — which took the Silver Bear Grand Jury prize at this year’s Berlin Film Festival — finds him on sober form. He needs t o be, t oo, for this gripping, ripped- fr om- theheadlines drama about the sexual abuse scandal surr ounding the Catholic Church and in particular cardinal Philippe Barbarin, who was convicted of failing to report the crimes and given a suspended prison sentence earlier this y ear. Centred appropriately on the victims rather than the accused, it’s a timely true st ory, told with urgency and compassion, that plays like the French counterpart t o the Oscar- winning Spotlight. Melvil Poupaud is particularly moving as an out wardly holding- it- together family man and abuse victim who’s ripped apart inside b y the trauma. 25 October