Bonello’s New Film Plays Devil’s Advocate
TORONTO – After years of enduring what might have been considered a period of stagnation for the Catholic Church [during the 21st century], the faith and its Supreme Pontiff are once again being embraced by popular culture. And regardless of whether people are now renouncing their Baal-like worship of smartphones or whether studios are simply milking an old cash cow, Vatican obsession is surging upward. Think Conclave, Cabrini, The Pope’s Exorcist and The Man from Rome.
And now, acclaimed Director Bertrand Bonello has begun filming his latest thriller Santo Subito!, which stars Mark Ruffalo as the fictional Father Joseph Murolo. The film not only revisits the rapid canonization process by which Pope John Paul II was granted sainthood, it sheds light on a defunct office of the church, which the former Pontiff himself removed in 1983.
Established by Pope Sixtus V in 1587, the “Advocatus Diaboli” or Devil’s Advocate was tasked to forensically investigate the life and deeds of a candidate for sainthood. As the name suggests however, the Devil’s Advocate did more than simply reinforce the claims for canonization; he was deployed to take an adversarial position, to scientifically scrutinize proposed miracles – and to uncover character flaws.
Judging by the players involved in the production, it looks like the project’s been set up to mirror the modus operandi of its main character. Playing the role of an American-born Priest who’s summoned to investigate Pope John Paul II’s path to sainthood, is the same actor (Ruffalo) who starred in the biographical drama Spotlight (2015).
In that film, Ruffalo played the real-life Boston Globe journalist Mike Rezendes who was part of an investigative team reporting on a Priest accused of child abuse. Santo Subito’s screenplay was co-written by Thomas Bidegain who also co-wrote the Mexican musical crime thriller Emilia Perez (2024), a story about a Cartel leader who fakes his death and undergoes gender-affirming surgery to disguise himself.
The assembled players don’t necessarily scream ’Christian devotees’, nor should that be a requisite to tell the story. But if their track records, along will Bonello’s, are any indication of what to expect from the type of story being told here, it’s not likely to be an advert for Catholicism. But that’s mere speculation, as the filming has only just begun.
It will however be interesting to – hopefully – take a deeper look into the inner machinations of one of the world’s most unique and complex institutions. And perhaps gain more understanding into why the late Pope John Paul II felt it beneficial for the church to have its canonization process accelerated.
By modifying and renaming the Devil’s Advocate role into what is now called the “Promotor Fidei” (Promoter of the Faith), John Paul II streamlined the process and canonized 482 saints during his 27 years as Pope. For perspective, only 300 saints had been made throughout the 600 years preceding his reign. Santo Subito, indeed.
Image of Conclave filming courtesy of Focus Features
Massimo Volpe is a filmmaker and freelance writer from Toronto: he writes reviews of Italian films/content on Netflix
