The childlike Céline/Hadewijch (Julie Sokolowski) believes herself to be undeserving of God’s grace and mercy. Yet she still seeks God and she does so with a passion and an intensity that alarms and disturbs her fellow believers. Unlike others, she is hyper-sensitive to the beauty of God in the world around her. But this sensitivity doesn’t make her any less vulnerable and her faith still needs guidance. The innocent ease with which she suddenly finds that guidance within the darkness of manipulative religious fanaticism ought to give us pause. And while director Bruno Dumont does not offer easy answers, he makes the seeking of divine presence, righteousness and mercy believably compelling, and then he gives the film a mysterious finale that hints at how God might, just possibly, still offer us mercy within the real-life corruptible particulars with which we are given.
—Jeremy Purves
Arts & Faith Lists:
2016 Top 25 Films on Mercy — #21