By the Grace of God: Francois Ozon's docudrama is a psychological deep-dive into the lives of church abuse survivors

By Liam Lacey

Rating: B-plus

One of the handful of contemporary French filmmakers whose films regularly gain international release, Francois Ozon’s brand is cinematically playful and socially provocative films such as 8 Women, Under the Sand and Swimming Pool. 

In contrast, By the Grace of God, the Grand jury winner at the Berlin film festival earlier this year, is unexpectedly conventional. A classic docudrama (Ozon originally conceived it as a documentary), the film explores a contemporary Catholic Church sexual abuse and cover-up scandal in Lyon, France, in a story similar, as Ozon himself has noted, to the Academy Award-winning movie Spotlight,.

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A major difference is that By the Grace of God is not about an investigative journalism coup.  The crusade to expose serial child abuser, Abbot Bernard Preyat, was led by a group of his now-adult victims. Ozon’s film evolves less as a procedural story than a character study of three men, all of whom were sexually abused as Catholic boy scouts, a group founded by a priest who molested them.

The film, which at 137-minutes is a long, sometimes-repetitive slow-burn, shifts styles according to which story is being told. We begin with the buttoned-down Alexandre (Melvil Poupaud), a successful 40-year-old Lyon banker and a churchgoing father of five, who begins telling his story in confident voice-over. 

Conscious that his abuser was still counselling children in 2014, and with his own sons approaching their confirmation ceremony, Alexandre thinks he’s helping the Church by writing a letter to Cardinal Barbarin (François Marthouret), warning him about the pedophile priest under his supervision. 

The Cardinal expresses appropriate concern and suggests that Alexander should meet with Father Preyat (Bernard Verley), which Alexandre uncomfortably agrees to. 

The old man readily admits his crimes and, with an intermediary woman church official, requests to pray with Alexandre, an experience that proves more freshly traumatic than healing. Alexandre, who wants to have the priest removed, seeks other survivors and witnesses in the effort to launch a legal case against the priest.

The emotional temperature increases markedly with the arrival of François (Denis Ménochet), a bullish atheist who claims to have put his past behind him. His parents, who learned early of his abuse, were supportive. Another survivor, a respected surgeon, Gilles (Éric Caravaca), attempts to mediate between Alexandre’s reticence and Francois’ aggressive approach. We finally see the trauma’s most toxic manifestation in Emmanuelle (Swann Arlaud), an intelligent but deeply vulnerable man, who has violent seizures when he becomes anxious. His employment record, adult relationships and even body were damaged by his serial abuse.

The benefits of Ozon’s approach, taking the time to explore the psychological specificity of the different characters, makes for a ruminative rather than superficially urgent film, that has a lingering after-effect.  We see how the men’s family members show a range of responses, from loyal support to jealousy, undermining, contempt and denial. The Catholic priests, including the abuser, make the right sympathetic noises, while quietly protecting the abusive status quo. 

At times, there’s even room for dark humour here: Francois, on the attack, wants to a hire a skywriter to create a giant penis in the sky on Easter Sunday, reasoning that they can exploit the public outcry; Depictions of penises are offensive, but not pedophile priests? The other men, who enjoy their relatively respectable careers, gingerly attempt to dissuade him from tactics that “will make us look crazy.” 

By the Grace of God  ends, not with a heart-warming resolution, but a “to-be-continued” ellipsis. The Church has acknowledged guilt in the Lyon case, and approved financial compensation for more than 70 victims, though details have not yet been fully resolved. 

The priest portrayed in the film, Bernard Preynat - who attempted to block the release of the film in France last February - has been found guilty and penalized by the Church, but he still faces a civil trial next year. In any case, resolution hardly seems possible: Ozon’s film is about how the children he harmed remain stuck in adult Limbo, both legally and psychologically.

By the Grace of God. Directed and written by Francois Ozon. Starring: Melvil Poupaud, Denis Ménochet, Swann Arlaud and Éric Caravaca. Opens at the Canada Square Cinemas, Friday, October 18.