Benedetta (2021)

When the church’s candlelight becomes a battleground, you find yourself standing beside a 17th‑century nun whose forbidden longing threatens to scorch the very walls she has sworn to guard. Benedetta’s unorthodox political drama blurs sacred rituals and forbidden lust through a dizzying montage of visions that feel both prophetic and claustrophobic. The film’s most arresting element is Cecilia Abbott translating the dizziness of persecution into a visual undertow, her face ghosting over trembling confessionals in each frame. It rewards a viewer willing to sink into long takes and silence, charting a slow‑burn, cerebral and visually intense journey. Some extended sequences, however, over‑dilate atmosphere at the expense of momentum in the third act.