This review of “Benedetta” first published on July 9, following its screening at Cannes 2021. Some see the whole world in a grain of sand; Paul Verhoeven, with typical abundance, expands that old ...

The long-delayed Benedetta, the newest cinematic event from acclaimed director Paul Verhoeven, is a period film that reaches new heights for the filmmaker. It is a story of religion, sex, and the ...

Paul Verhoeven, director of Robocop, Showgirls, Starship Troopers, etc. has always been a horny little altar boy at heart and never has that been more clear than in his new film, Benedetta, a tale of ...

Beneath the explicit sex and violence of the latest film from Dutch provocateur Paul Verhoeven are thoughtful challenges about gender roles and institutional religion. As a child, Benedetta is praised ...

The provocateur returns to competition with this French-language drama, based on a true story about a 17th-century nun who was chastised for her religious visions and lesbian affairs. By Jordan ...

The flesh is weak but the third act is even weaker in Paul Verhoeven's transgressive but frustratingly self-conflicted period piece. You probably won’t be shocked to hear that Paul Verhoeven’s erotic ...

Paul Verhoeven, you horny motherfucker, you’ve done it again. Few filmmakers have made a name for themselves violently confronting the nigh-puritanical state of modern cinema the way Verhoeven has.

In a frank interview, the "Showgirls," "Basic Instinct," and "Elle" director explains why that Virgin Mary dildo was a dramatic necessity. Cannes debut “Benedetta” is his latest provocation, a true ...

Evil snakes, a scheming Charlotte Rampling and the Virgin Mary turned into a sex toy. So why does it all feel so chaste? There comes a time in the viewing of any historical film when you start to ...

SISTERS ARE DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES Efira plays a Renaissance nun with a bit of a God complex in Verhoeven’s surprisingly thoughtful drama. Credit: Courtesy of IFC Films Since childhood, Sister ...

Paul Verhoeven takes us to a nunnery where faith, eroticism and the Black Death make for an unholy good time. By Jeannette Catsoulis When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film ...

Director Paul Verhoeven’s lesbian nun drama pushes the envelope on sexuality, but proves fairly conventional in most other respects. Let’s begin with the wooden statue of the Virgin Mary that is young ...