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By the Grace of God

Grâce à Dieu

2018

François Ozon

Melvil Poupaud, Denis Ménochet, François Marthouret, Josiane Balasko ...

6.6

2,458

Drama Alexandre lives with his wife and children in Lyon. One day he discovers by chance that the priest who abused him when he was a boy scout is still working with young people. Long repressed memories awaken. Distraught, Alexandre finally finds the courage to take action against the man. His search for further victims of the clergyman, who is highly respected in his office, leads Alexandre to François and Emmanuel. Each of these three men ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Guy Lodge Variety	"An ambitious, urgently topical story (...) That the film works as stirringly as it does is largely because of that brash, heart-on-sleeve engagement with its characters’ messy, unfinished feelings"	POS
United States	David Ehrlich IndieWire	"A French riff on 'Spotlight' (...) A thoughtful, fast-paced, and immaculately acted procedural that unfolds with the urgency of a newspaper deadline"	POS
United States	David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"It's persuasively acted, elegantly shot, subtly scored and briskly edited to keep the dense, procedural action moving forward (...) The tone does become somewhat wearing and the narrative a tad repetitious at two hours-plus"	NEU
United States	Glenn Kenny The New York Times	"A film that is engrossing from the start, while building to something greater and more emotionally encompassing (...) An important film that’s also utterly inspired."	POS
United Kingdom	Jonathan Romney Screendaily	"Ozon has made the most conventional drama of his career, though not without some formal invention. Superbly acted and highly controlled (...) This uncharacteristically solemn film is likely to be admired"	POS
United States	Mark Lieberman The Washington Post	"A powerful, true story of sex abuse (...) Arlaud’s vivid performance makes this character the film’s most sympathetic and stirring one (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Mike D'Angelo AV Club	"[Its approach] yields additional pathos, but at the expense of dramatic momentum (...) This very empathetic project suffers from an inability to offer anything beyond what one would expect from its synopsis."	NEU
United States	Odie Henderson rogerebert.com	"The director impressively juggles the large scope of his script while maintaining the sense of intimacy (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"Ozon has made a decent and valuable film, though it often seems like the drama part of a docudrama (...) It does not have the dramatic punch and snap of Tom McCarthy’s 2015 Oscar-winner 'Spotlight' (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Tim Robey Telegraph	"Ozon knits these complex, overlapping narratives into an enthralling tapestry of testimony (...) For a relatively lengthy film, it’s fast, focused and unrelenting (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Ian Freer Empire	"A fast-paced, exciting, beautifully played film that matches 'Spotlight' as a searing portrait of modern heroes who stood up (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
Ireland	Tara Brady Irish Times	"The performances are excellent, and Ozon maintains a perfect balance between the galloping investigation and a sense of quiet devastation (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
Ireland	Graham Scannain	"A masterfully crafted film. Its characters are all too real, the subject matter is delivered potently and technically is a well-designed film (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
Ireland	Paddy Kehoe RTÉ	"It is pacy and functional (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)"	POS
	Fabien Lemercier Cineuropa	"Finding the right distance with which to approach such delicate material and avoiding melodramatic excesses (...) François Ozon delivers a film that is both strong and modest, implacable and sensitive, incisive and respectful."	POS

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