Article by Beatrice Bertino

Translation by Chiara Ventura

Not all stories end up being what the author had imagined. This is what happened to Otso Tiainen, a Finnish director dealing with his first documentary. The story he intended to tell about arcane rites and forms of worship ended up reporting recent news events related to domestic abuses that emerged during filming.

In Rennes-le-Château, near the Monteségur mountain, a community of shamans reunited. They are women and men looking for a “tailored” spirituality that connects witchcraft to doctrines of Catharism, a Christian movement declared heretical in the XIII century. Even the former cult-film director Richard Stanley is in search of a god. He is the first to attain spiritual enlightenment, proclaiming himself a Knight of the Holy Grail and becoming a guide for the community. The services are shot with a style of cinematography that burns light, evoking a sense of purity, while the days are documented with a hand-held camera that follows the events with curiosity.

The initial intent of the film is to tell stories about theological baptisms marking a spiritual rebirth, a purification that allows one to leave everything behind. The narration unexpectedly changes when Stanley, protected by his community that wants to hide his sins behind the temple’s doors, is accused of rape. The intervention of one of the victims, Scarlett, turns the tables. The woman talks about the years she spent with Stanley at Monteségur amidst aggressions and rituals, dismantling the rhetoric of self-proclaimed pastors who exploit vulnerable people seeking their own path.

«There, many people have very interesting stories to tell, but they are all wounded in some way and are trying to escape from something.» declares Tiainen, the director. If the film begins with an authentic interest in spirituality, the viewer should not be fooled: the epilogue will be a condemnation.