Grâce à Dieu (aka By The Grace Of God) (2019)

A bank executive and practicing Catholic (Melvil Poupaud) is assailed by memories of sexual abuse by his priest (Bernard Verley) when he was a boy. He is horrified when he learns that the priest is still active within the church and working with children. But he isn't the only victim of the priest. Directed by Francois Ozon (UNDER THE SAND) and based on the 2019 conviction of Cardinal Barbarin (played here by Francois Marthouret) for concealing the conduct of Father Bernard Preynot (played by Verley), who molested children for decades before eventually defrocked and convicted. Ozon is known for his strong work with actresses (Charlotte Rampling, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert to name three) but here it's the male characters that dominate the movie. The Oscar winning film SPOTLIGHT (2015) also covered sexual abuse by priests and the Catholic church's covering up but Ozon concentrates on three adult male protagonists (Denis Menochet and Swann Arlaud are the other two) and focuses on what the effect of the sexual abuse had on their lives (guilt, shame, loss of faith in the Catholic church, sexual dysfunction etc.). Rather than a deja vu "we've heard it all before" experience, this allows the film to center on the victims rather than the institutional whitewashing. A potent film. With Josiane Balasko and Aurelia Petit.