Content warning: rape
Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) wants to be a priest after experiencing a conversion in juvenile detention, but is told no seminary will accept him because of his criminal background. (Which pretty much violates all the tenets of Christianity, but we'll ignore that for now.) Sent to a sawmill for work, Daniel instead wanders to a nearby town and is mistaken for Father Tomasz, the new priest sent to fill in while the current priest (Zdzislaw Wardejn) goes away for a surgery. Daniel makes the most of this role, mentoring the kids, standing up to the overbearing sawmill owner/mayor (Leszek Lichota), and generally being a force for good. But he's not the only one with a secret. The local tragedy (every small town has one) is a car wreck that killed six teenagers and the driver of the other car. As Daniel gets closer to Marta (Eliza Rycembei), the sister of one of the victims, he starts to put together a conspiracy of grief, denial, and misplaced anger.
I like Catholics. Most of the Catholics I know (are lapsed, but that's a different story) are fun people who try to do the right thing, even when their religion lets them down. I like Christianity. Its basic principles advocate unconditional love, service to others, and humility. I don't like most Christians, especially people who use the term as a club to punish anyone they feel is different. And that's kind of what this movie is about. The people in the town are devout and united in their hatred for the widow of the man that killed their children, to the point of making her a pariah. When Daniel pushes back on this narrative, he is attacked, in the night, in cowardly anonymity. Daniel is told that because he is a murderer (Bad), he can't be a priest, but the priest who began a sexual relationship with him while he was in Juvenile Detention? Fine upstanding member of the clergy. K.
Anyway, this is a good movie but not a fun movie. It's currently streaming on the Criterion Channel but I got it on disc from Netflix.
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