Hadewijch review

A provocative look at contemporary religious martyrdom

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French Auteur Bruno Dumont ( Humanitié ) continues to plough his own furrow with this provocative look at contemporary religious martyrdom.

Named after a 13th-Century female mystic, it follows theology student Céline (Julie Sokolowski), who’s removed from a Belgian convent for her excessive piety. Still in love with Christ, she encounters a Muslim teen in Paris, whose older brother is an Islamic fundamentalist.

The opaque Sokolowski is a real discovery, and this mysterious film builds to its climactic act of salvation: one to watch alongside Robert Bresson’s Diary Of A Country Priest .