By the Grace of God

Director François Ozon (Swimming Pool) based his film on actual events about three men harnessing their guilt and anger to compare experiences 30 years prior in the early ’90s when at summer camp a pedophile priest molested each of them. Alexandra (Melvil Poupaud) starts the ball rolling for a preliminary investigation into Father Preynat (Bernard Verley) by writing letters to the Archdiocese of Lyon, France, where the deafening unresponsiveness prompts his meeting with Church psychologist Regine (Martine Erhel) who, while sympathetic, only manages to set up a meeting between priest and victim. Immediately Preynat confesses to his involvement, shy of asking forgiveness, which in turn brings François (Denis Ménochet) – another of his victims – to start an organization for the victims, Lift The Burden… which brings forth Emmanuel (Swann Arlaud) to connect the dots of his ruined, failed life. Exploring each of the three stories, the audience learns as the characters recall what has taken place, leading to a united call for reform of the Statute of Limitation laws which prevent most of the victims from seeing justice.

[NR]