MAGNIFICAT (English)

When an elderly priest died, the people in charge of his diocese discovered that it was a woman. Without anyone suspecting it, she had been practicing her vocation for years. Dismayed, the bishop decided to launch an investigation and asked the chancellor of the diocese to find out how, why and with what complicity such a deception was possible.

• By lifting the veil on a few religious prohibitions, Virginie Sauveur and Nicolas Silhol make a skillful film on imposture and manipulation…. The first feature film by Virginie Sauveur… is above all worthwhile for its mysterious and captivating investigation, supported by a scenario precisely punctuated between comedy and authentic revelations. Apart from the religious aspect, Magnificat takes a curious and almost astonished look at these beings, both prisoners and victims of beliefs from another age, giving a particularly human dimension to what was announced as a clerical thriller.
  Claudine Levanneur – aVoir-aLire 

• Virginie Sauveur… treats the subject calmly and with a touch of ironic curiosity… the story addresses existential questions (women in the Church, the gender of angels, the silence of the hierarchy)… Karin Viard… gives elegance and density to this meditative and very unexpected film.
  François Forestier – L’Obs 

• Virginie Sauveur’s first film tactfully evokes the taboo of female priests in the church. Karin Viard is amazing.
  Olivier Delcroix – Le Figaro 

• With tremendous empathy in the role of Chancellor, Karin Viard gradually leads us to question ourselves on these subjects by freeing herself from stereotypes and taboos.
  Le Parisien 

Mature subject 

Sonoma International Film Festival