Paradise: Faith
Austrian provocateur Ulrich Seidl examines the bodily cost of absolute faith through a missionary woman's increasingly punishing Catholic devotion.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- austere
- provocative
- disturbing
- serious film discussion
- arthouse cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a rigorously made and provocative religious drama, even when its austerity and confrontational methods divide viewers.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Anna Maria's missionary routines, domestic behavior, and self-punishment are observed in prolonged, uncomfortable detail.
Anna Maria's Catholic faith becomes inseparable from self-punishment and missionary labor.
The protagonist's missionary convictions collide with other people and with competing understandings of faith.
The film sustains an emotionally controlled, unsettling register while depicting intimate religious and bodily conflict.
Films like Paradise: Faith, and why
The Seventh Seal
austere religious drama examining bodily discipline, faith, and moral extremity through confrontational realism
Breaking the Waves
provocative European drama about religious devotion, repression, and psychologically intense self-sacrifice
First Reformed
minimalist, unsettling drama focused on obsessive belief, ritual, and alienation from ordinary social life
Movie Details
- Director
- Ulrich Seidl
- Release Date
- 2013-03-21
- Runtime
- 109 min
- Rating
- 6.5 / 10 (134)
Cast
- Maria Hofstätter
- Nabil Saleh
- Natalija Baranova
- Daniel Hoesl
- René Rupnik
- Trude Masur
- Dieter Masur
- Michaela Hurdes-Galli
- Gulcan Jafarova
- Sevinc Jafarova
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Paradise: Faith about?
- Austrian provocateur Ulrich Seidl examines the bodily cost of absolute faith through a missionary woman's increasingly punishing Catholic devotion.
- What is Paradise: Faith like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Paradise: Faith as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Paradise: Faith violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Paradise: Faith as moderate.
- What did critics think of Paradise: Faith?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a rigorously made and provocative religious drama, even when its austerity and confrontational methods divide viewers.
- Which films are like Paradise: Faith?
- Films with a similar feel include The Seventh Seal, Breaking the Waves, and First Reformed.
- How long is Paradise: Faith?
- Paradise: Faith runs 109 minutes.
- Where can I watch Paradise: Faith?
- In United States, Paradise: Faith is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store.
