• Corpus Christi was inspired by real events. Bartosz Bielenia plays Daniel, a juvenile prisoner graduate out on parole. Through part-lie, part-happenstance (he really was just tired of being judged and made a joke to a cute girl about being a priest) he becomes the priest (and an influential figure) of this small town.
  • Director Jan Komasa shows complete control behind the camera. Komasa is dedicated to the color green in the mise-en-scene throughout the film. Green is prevalent in the church scenes, details as small as a sweater or a cell phone case. The most noticeable (and beautiful) use is of the widow’s house. In that scene Komasa has the frame swimming in the widow’s emerald window curtains. Bergman (Winter Light) and Paul Schrader (First Reformed) and many others have done it before- but when in church, Komasa balances the frame perfectly with wider shots – the candles, the pews, all perfectly symmetrical.
  • It is smartly written by Mateusz Pacewicz. Pacewicz has a magnificent exchange about being right vs. being in power. Pacewicz and Bielenia have made a character here in Daniel. Daniel is both affable and theatrical. He seems to be a genuine about everything except for who (or what) he is (or is not). He’s a breath of fresh air in this small town (which has seen a recent tragedy that drives much of the engaging narrative). He blows the top off this stuffy congregation with his energy and frankness.
  • Recommend but not quite in the top 10 of 2019