12 year old Camille’s family switches to a new Catholic parish. It is lorded over by a priest known only as The Shepherd. As the family falls deeper under the sway of the Shepherd and his flock, Camille performs in a sketch that appears to make fun of prayer. The Shepherd in not amused and insists that Camille stop training for the circus (her one joy in life) and devote her life to the church. As her parents give themselves over more and more to the Shepherd’s view of the right way to live Camille realizes just how wrong things are and that it is up to her to keep herself and young brothers safe from the Shepherd's ideas of right and wrong.
Portrait of the Catholic Church as brainwashing cult.
Good melodrama is damn close to an anti-church polemic. How you take to the anti-religion, anti-church stance will determine how you feel about the film. Personally the portrait of the evils of this church is a bit much and after a while I kind of turned off since I felt I was being lectured and not allowed to ponder things my own way. That’s a shame since the film is well made and well acted but the one sided stance kept me from doing more than liking the film..
Worth a look if you are so inclined.
THE DAZZLED plays tonight and on March 13th. For tickets and more information go here.
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