The Devil In Maddalena

Like most who discover this movie, I knew about it only from Ennio Morricone’s legendary score. The title would suggest that this is horror film or another Exorcist cash-in, but, in actuality, it’s mostly a drama with art-house visual sensibilities. It’s a modern (well, 1970s modern) retelling of the story of Mary Magdalene. In this version, a promiscuous married woman attempts to seduce a young priest. Throughout she has fantasies of being another woman who is chased by dogs, or trapped in a prison ward. Again, I’m dumb and am not quite sure what it all means but it all adds up into a mesmerizing tale with a gut-wrenching ending.