Back to trending
Benedetta

Benedetta

History · Drama · Romance · 2021

A 17th-century nun becomes entangled in a forbidden lesbian affair with a novice. But it is Benedetta's shocking religious visions that threaten to shake the Church to its core.

Movie details

Benedetta

“I don't know God's ways, but he works his will through me.”

2021 History · Drama · Romance 2h 11m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

A 17th-century nun becomes entangled in a forbidden lesbian affair with a novice. But it is Benedetta's shocking religious visions that threaten to shake the Church to its core.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Benedetta?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Belle de Jour

Belle de Jour

Drama · 1967

Beautiful young housewife Séverine Serizy cannot reconcile her masochistic fantasies with her everyday life alongside dutiful husband Pierre. When her lovestruck friend Henri mentions a secretive high-class brothel run by Madame Anais, Séverine begins to work there during the day under the name Belle de Jour. But when one of her clients grows possessive, she must try to go back to her normal life.

The Piano Teacher

The Piano Teacher

Drama · 2001

Erika Kohut, a sexually repressed piano teacher living with her domineering mother, meets a young man who starts romantically pursuing her.

The Woman Next Door

The Woman Next Door

Drama · 1981

Two ex-lovers wind up living next door to each other with their respective spouses. Forbidden passions ensue.

The Married Woman

The Married Woman

Drama · 1964

A superficial woman finds conflict choosing between her abusive husband and her vain lover.

Blue Is the Warmest Color

Blue Is the Warmest Color

Romance · 2013

Adèle's life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult. In front of others, Adele grows, seeks herself, loses herself, finds herself.

Queen Christina

Queen Christina

Romance · 1934

Popular monarch Queen Christina of Sweden must choose between love and loyalty to her nation when she unexpectedly falls for a Spanish envoy.

The French Lieutenant's Woman

The French Lieutenant's Woman

Drama · 1981

In this story-within-a-story, Anna is an actress starring opposite Mike in a period piece about the forbidden love between their respective characters, Sarah and Charles. Both actors are involved in serious relationships, but the passionate nature of the script leads to an off-camera love affair as well. While attempting to maintain their composure and professionalism, Anna and Mike struggle to come to terms with their infidelity.

Shooting Dogs

Shooting Dogs

Drama · 2006

Two westerners, a priest and a teacher find themselves in the middle of the Rwandan genocide and face a moral dilemna. Do they place themselves in danger and protect the refugees, or escape the country with their lives? Based on a true story.

Original Sin

Original Sin

Thriller · 2001

A young man is plunged into a life of subterfuge, deceit and mistaken identity in pursuit of a femme fatale whose heart is never quite within his grasp.

No Limit

No Limit

Drama · 2022

Roxana Aubrey decides to drop her studies and escape her life in Paris for a free diving course in the south of France. She is quickly pulled into a life that reaches new depths brought by the weight of an ocean's descent.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Paul Verhoeven

Written by

Paul Verhoeven · David Birke

Virginie Efira

Virginie Efira

Sister Benedetta Carlini

Charlotte Rampling

Charlotte Rampling

Sister Felicita

Daphné Patakia

Daphné Patakia

Bartolomea

Lambert Wilson

Lambert Wilson

Nuncio

Olivier Rabourdin

Olivier Rabourdin

Alfonso Cecchi

Louise Chevillotte

Louise Chevillotte

Sister Christina

Hervé Pierre

Hervé Pierre

Paolo Ricordati

Court is in session

Put Benedetta on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.