“EXTRAORDINARY…A STRANGE, OFTEN THRILLING, ALWAYS SURPRISING FILM. Belmondo brings a shock of the carnal to every encounter. The world of Léon Morin is one of profound disarray.”
– Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

"A fascinating, unexpected movie that fans of French film in general, and Melville in particular, will not want to miss."
– Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

“FILM OF THE WEEK”

“MELVILLE’S MASTERPIECE! A GIDDY BIT OF BLASPHEMY! Belmondo is a broken-nosed devil in disguise. A lacerating chamber piece…the fate of the world seems to hang on every word.”
– Keith Uhlich, Time Out New York

“EXTRAORDINARY! MELVILLE’S FINEST! Ingmar Bergman territory but with a clearer sociological focus. Not mere blasphemous farce but an astonishing parade of human nature–Left Bank style. Belmondo makes the comeliest cleric since Montgomery Clift in Hitchcock’s I Confess, yet it’s a performance of compelling restraint.”
– Armond White, New York Press

“HYPNOTIC! BEAUTIFULLY FILMED AND ACTED! A distillation of the themes of devotion and human persistence that mark Melville’s work.”
– New York Magazine

“A movie that moves with the diamond-cut precision and carefully constricting tension of Melville’s trademark gangland sagas, the precious booty here being nothing less than the human soul, the price for an errant gestures the retribution of an even more fearsome underworld.”
– Scott Foundas, Village Voice

“Melville’s depiction of wartime France is peerless...presented with a harrowing simplicity. Belmondo plays the handsome, brave, vigorous, and intellectual priest with virility and verbal aplomb.”
– Richard Brody, The New Yorker

“An impressionistic prism of life in occupied France. Melville shows his mastery of cinematic language in his ability to confront complex issues explicitly through swift, deft strokes that impact the audience without resorting to heavy-handedness.”
– Cullen Gallagher, L Magazine