Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven has had one of the more interesting directorial careers moving between multiple different genres with satirical sci-fi action outings like RoboCop, Starship Troopers and Total Recall alongside thrillers like Basic Instinct, Elle, and Black Book. He’s set to return with his erotic nun movie Benedetta and the French studio Pathe has dropped the first-look trailer as it will debut first at the Cannes Film Festival on July 9, 2021.

The film stars Virginie Efira, Charlotte Rampling, Daphné Patakia, and Lambert Wilson.

Benedetta is based on the 1986 non-fiction book Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy by Judith C. Brown with a script penned by Verhoeven and David Birke. It’s been a longtime coming as they wrapped production back in 2018 and the film has been patiently waiting for a festival reveal after a 2020 premiere at Cannes was cancelled due to the pandemic.

In the late 17th century, with plague ravaging the land, Benedetta Carlini joins the convent in Pescia, Tuscany, as a novice. Capable from an early age of performing miracles, Benedetta’s impact on life in the community is immediate and momentous.

SOURCE: PATHE