Lourdes 2009

The French town of Lourdes, long rumoured to be a place of miraculous healing, is the destination for millions of Christian pilgrims yearly. Using this setting, Jessica Hausner has delivered a wonderfully mysterious film about faith and skepticism. The stripped-down aesthetics and the intentionally opaque objectivity create an ambiguous mood that is both spiritual and comically absurd. Sylvie Testud is quietly superb as a wheelchair-bound woman seeking a miracle.