In Memory Of Me review

Italian writer/ director Saverio Costanzo (Private) penetrates the enclosed world of a Jesuit seminary with this austere, atmospheric account of a trainee priest’s induction. Andrea (Christo Jivkov) is a new recruit at a religious community on an island across from Venice. Under the watchful eye of his Master Superior (Andre Hennicke), he immerses himself in the daily routines of prayers, scripture reading and contemplation, yet doubts about his own faith simmer to the surface. Costanzo wreathes his all-male milieu in a mood of tense mystery. Withholding explanations and hewing dialogue to the bone, he homes in on the loaded looks exchanged by the characters as they attempt to consecrate their lives to God. Both dream-like and cerebral, In Memory Of Me absorbs for most of its two hours, only losing conviction in an underwhelming sign-off.