Benedetta

"The flesh is weak but the third act is even weaker in Paul Verhoeven's transgressive but frustratingly self-conflicted period piece (...) One of Verhoeven’s tamer efforts" 

"This is an erotic film, full stop, and though 'Benedetta' is smarter in various respects than such sisters-in-exploitation as 'Put Your Devil Into My Hell' and 'The Killer Nun,' in others, it’s much, much dumber." 

"A film about a woman clawing her way to power in a male-dominated world (...) The beauty of Benedetta is that it never provides a straightforward answer to all of our questions, making it mostly a matter of faith." 

"Verhoeven, still courting scandal at 82, did not disappoint (...) At times, it has the feel of a grand summation of all the director's ideas about eroticism, rationality, moral ambiguity, and faith. At once tongue-in-cheek and entirely serious" 

"Verhoeven delivers beauty, belief and nun-on-nun sex (...) Surprising as it may be for a film that spends an inordinate amount of time centered on a holy relic carved into a dildo, but [it] is Verhoeven's most personal film" 

"'Benedetta' is both profane and sublime —no wonder some Catholics hate it (...) Paul Verhoeven's controversial new film is as lurid but more spiritual than you've heard" 

"Sexy, satirical and spiritual (...) It takes a particular deftness for a movie to wear its intelligence and its irreverence so lightly. You might even call it grace"