Leave it to Paul Verhoeven (Turkish Delight, Basic Instinct) to set an erotic thriller inside a convent. Don’t let the bird poop and fart jokes that open the picture throw you. It’s his way of distracting audiences from the corporeal abominations that await. Verhoeven’s role in this fact-based 17th Century nun epic is that of master debunker, a randier James Randi taking us just so far before offering a logical explanation for all of the miracles set before us. When Jesus told His followers to suffer, it didn’t mean inflicting suffering on others. Based on Judith C. Brown book "Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy," there’s a rough trade sensuality surging through the initial encounters between Benedetta (Virginie Efira) and her emphatic, wild-eyed lover Bartolomea (Daphne Patakia) that packs more sizzle than Showgirls. The casting is truly inspired. (For a film set almost entirely inside a convent, there’s not a likeable character in the bunch.) In addition to the unashamed lead performances, Charlotte Rampling’s Mother Superior is a scowl smeared across a block of ice. And who better than Lambert Wilson, the passive monk who confronted terrorism in the miraculous Of Gods and Men, to play the film’s prime personification of evil. As the closing credits rolled, my friend whispered, “Who was this movie made for?” I, for one. (2021) — Scott Marks
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