A defrocked priest ,the "Holy Father", his companion ,"the Holy Mother" and a curious femme-enfant ,"Sister Angélique" have a stranglehold on a exclusive community of devout peasants, whose naiveté knows no bounds .They preach in a terrifying manner, ranting about the perils of disbelief , and financially exploiting them by threatening them with Hell ;like in the Middle-Ages ,they are given fine food as indulgences for their sins .
At the same time, a teenager, Ursula , awakens to sensuality with a boyfriend ,Paul ( oddly,the movie is dedicated to "Monsieur Paul" ).She comes against the dreadful 'trinity" ,who urges the peasents to put her on trial ;the young girl resists , showing some perversity to provoke them ,and even invoking Satan.
This could have been as absorbing as "Mais Ne Nous Délivrez Pas Du Mal" by Joel Seria (1972) but it does not really convince,being too overdone, too repetitive and too talky : Feodor Atkine and Anna Karina ,mainly the latter ,are never brought under control,and they keep on overplaying all over the place,which gets on one 's nerves in the long run ;only Pascale Ogier as a nun,reciting the Gospels with a child's voice ,plays her game well.As for the country people ,although they are often played by seasoned actors (Dora Doll),they are thoroughly insignificant.
The most interesting thing in the screenplay is the way the sect makes "the sinners" shoulder the responsibility of their thefts (the luxury car) or their crime : we are not sure that the distraught father eventually puts the blame on "them" .
Jacques Richard 's movie caused a scandal in France at the time.
