Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi follows juvenile delinquent Daniel (Bartosz Bielenia) as he disguises himself as a priest and hides out in a small town, with complications ensuing as Daniel becomes more and more involved in the townspeoples’ lives and problems. It’s a fairly generic setup that’s employed to low-key and decidedly deliberate effect by filmmaker Jan Komasa, and it’s clear, certainly, that much of Corpus Christi’s success is due to Bielenia’s impressively commanding turn as the compelling protagonist – with the watchable atmosphere perpetuated by an ongoing emphasis on stirring, periodically funny interludes (eg Daniel consults his phone on the proper way to receive a confession from a parishioner). There’s little doubt, then, that Corpus Christi’s tenuous hold on the viewer does take a hit as it progresses into its erratic, almost episodic midsection, with the hit-and-miss nature of this stretch compounded by a pace that couldn’t possibly be any slower – which does ensure that the picture ultimately isn’t able to pack the visceral, emotional punch that Komasa has intended. The end result is a decent drama that could and should have been far more engaging, with the movie, for the most part, unable to overcome a much longer and slower execution than one might’ve preferred.

**1/2 out of ****