What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedBenedetta
Paul Verhoeven · Film · 2021
If you loved Benedetta, start with The Young Pope (Paolo Sorrentino, 2016) — a series on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 series and 2 podcasts, each matched to Benedetta across media.
If you loved Benedetta, you are likely drawn to the volatile intersection of institutional power, forbidden desire, and profound religious mystery.
Books on the same thread
The Name of the Rose
Umberto Eco · Book · 1984
Explores: Religious Heresy, Medieval Philosophy, Secrets and Conspiracy.
Like Benedetta, this mystery explores the dark underbelly of medieval religious life, where intellectual investigation and institutional secrets collide to reveal the dangerous reality behind sacred facades.
The Forbidden Body
Douglas E. Cowan · Book · 2022
Explores: Religious control, Body image, Marginalization.
This examination of the religious imagination mirrors the way Benedetta uses the physical body as a battleground for control, marginalization, and the intense struggle against rigid institutional expectations.
St. Benedict's Rule for Monasteries
St Benedict of Nursia · Book · 2016
Explores: Obedience, Humility, Community Life.
For those fascinated by the monastic setting of Benedetta, this text provides the authentic administrative and spiritual framework that governs the lives of the nuns within the film.
Lapvona
Ottessa Moshfegh · Book
Shares a thread with Benedetta: Religious hypocrisy.
This gothic tale captures the same atmosphere of religious hypocrisy and moral decay found in Benedetta, showing how occult forces and human corruption can dismantle a medieval social order.
Series on the same thread
The Young Pope
Paolo Sorrentino · Series · 2016
Shares 2 threads with Benedetta: power dynamics, Religious Drama.
Much like the power dynamics at play in Benedetta, this series navigates the secretive corridors of the Vatican, focusing on a leader whose faith and doubt shape political survival.
Jesus of Nazareth
Franco Zeffirelli · Series · 1977
Shares a thread with Benedetta: Historical Drama.
If the religious spectacle of Benedetta captivated you, this epic approach to faith and sacrifice offers a more traditional, expansive look at the foundations of the religious experience.
Fellow Travelers
Ron Nyswaner · Series · 2023
Shares a thread with Benedetta: Forbidden Love.
This series mirrors the forbidden love at the heart of Benedetta, illustrating how systemic political persecution and social pressure force intimate, long-term relationships into the dangerous shadows.
Brideshead Revisited
Derek Granger · Series · 1981
Shares 2 threads with Benedetta: Forbidden Love, Historical Drama.
The tension between personal longing and strict religious tradition in Benedetta finds a sophisticated parallel here, as the characters struggle to navigate their faith alongside their deepest desires.
Podcasts on the same thread
Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society
Podcast
Explores: sexual history, scandal, social customs.
This podcast digs into the historical reality behind the scandals depicted in Benedetta, exposing the complex, often hidden social customs that shaped sexuality throughout the medieval and Victorian eras.
Heaven's Helpline
Podcast
Explores: sexual abuse, institutional cover-up, religious institutions.
This investigative series echoes the institutional critique found in Benedetta, revealing how religious organizations use their power to maintain secrecy and cover up abuses within their own walls.
Keep exploring
Common questions
Is Benedetta based on a true story?
The film Benedetta is set in the 17th century and focuses on a nun who experiences religious visions. While it explores themes of faith and institutional conflict, the movie is a fictionalized portrayal of events rather than a strictly historical documentary.
What is the primary conflict in Benedetta?
The central conflict in Benedetta involves a forbidden lesbian affair between a nun and a novice. This relationship, combined with the protagonist's shocking religious visions, creates significant tension that threatens to disrupt the authority and stability of the 17th-century Church.
Who directed the movie Benedetta?
Benedetta was directed by Paul Verhoeven. Released in 2021, the film centers on a 17th-century nun whose personal life and spiritual claims lead to a dramatic confrontation with the religious establishment of the time.
What themes are explored in Benedetta?
Benedetta explores the intersection of religious devotion and human desire. The narrative examines how a nun's forbidden affair and her controversial religious visions challenge the power of the Church, ultimately testing the limits of faith and institutional control during the 17th century.