The Brand New Testament

Whimsical comedy imagining God as a misanthropic oaf living in Belgium.

Film Review by Philip Concannon | 16 Feb 2016
Film title: The Brand New Testament
Director: Jaco Van Dormael
Starring: Pili Groyne, Benoît Poelvoorde, Catherine Deneuve, François Damiens, Yolande Moreau
Release date: 15 Apr

There’s one good joke in The Brand New Testament. As a priest counsels a homeless drunk by reciting the word of God, the down-and-out replies, “I didn’t say that.” Jaco Van Dormael’s comedy is based on the premise that God is in fact a misanthropic oaf living in Belgium, whose system of control is destroyed when his daughter (Pili Groyne) lets everyone on earth know the exact date of their death.

There’s so much comic and philosophical potential to be explored in the idea of a world free from the shackles of religion and from fear of death, but Van Dormael opts instead for trite epiphanies and sub-Amélie whimsy, with a dismally regressive view of male and female characteristics being laid bare throughout the film’s increasingly tiresome episodes.

Benoît Poelvoorde’s antic performance as God is hamstrung by his character being asked to do little more than suffer a series of slapstick indignities, and much of this feels like filler material, as if Van Dormael realised how thin his ideas were but still felt the need to pad the film out to an enervating two hours.


The Brand New Testament screens in Glasgow Film Festival: 21 Feb, GFT, 5.35pm | 22 Feb, GFT, 3.30pm

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