75
Metascore
38 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeWith its haters-be-damned approach to all things carnal, Benedetta is intended to arouse, thereby satisfying the most basic definition of pornography, even if Verhoeven (who claims a certain scholarly interest in the subject as well) does surround the titillating bits with illuminating insights into Renaissance religious life.
- 89TheWrapBen CrollTheWrapBen CrollYou can’t call a film as lurid and alive as Benedetta a closing statement, but there is something valedictory about the erotic religious drama, which finds time to explore questions of voyeurism, sadism, masochism, systems of power, perversion, repression, rebellion, storytelling, divinity, irony and belief. Oh, and sex — plenty and plenty of nun-on-nun sex.
- 83The PlaylistJessica KiangThe PlaylistJessica KiangIf Benedetta is a joke that Verhoeven is in on, and that is designed to play to those in on it too, we can at least be thankful that it’s a good joke – not that there’s anyone up there to be thankful to.
- 83The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorVerhoeven, as always, is more interested in playing games and is always at his best when needling an audience’s ideas of good taste.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerThe Hollywood ReporterJordan MintzerWe may never know if Benedetta was sincere about her visions in the end, just as it’s impossible to judge how sincere Verhoeven is when he’s indulging in the erotic visions that have made him famous. The beauty of Benedetta is that it never provides a straightforward answer to all of our questions, making it mostly a matter of faith.
- 75Slant MagazinePat BrownSlant MagazinePat BrownThroughout Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven builds up a heady, campy mix of religious imagery, corporeal abjectness, and masochism.
- 58IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichDespite a handful of headline-worthy moments and a generally blasphemous — or perhaps just humanistic? — attitude toward the dogmas of the Catholic Church, Benedetta can’t help but feel like one of Verhoeven’s tamer efforts.
- 50Screen DailyLee MarshallScreen DailyLee MarshallIt’s the tone that’s off here, as it is throughout a film which seems to wink at what it perhaps wants us to see as irony – its soft porn tropes like bondage and flagellation, its over-saturated sci-fi view of a comet’s passing, its horror-influenced vision of the plague – while keeping both eyes firmly open.
- 40The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawVerhoeven just presents us with the raunchiness, using the religiosity as set dressing.