Testament is full of bad jokes (like a man repeatedly throwing himself from great heights to prove he won't die) and, in spite of Groyne's grave, determined presence as Ea, is borderline offensive.
The Brand New Testament(Le tout nouveau testament)
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Belgium, France, Luxembourg · 2015
1h 45m
Director Jaco Van Dormael
Starring Pili Groyne, Benoît Poelvoorde, Yolande Moreau, Catherine Deneuve
Genre Drama, Comedy, Fantasy
Add to Watchlist
Please login to add films to your watchlist.
God lives in Brussels. On earth though, God is a coward, with pathetical morals and being odious with his family. His daughter, Ea, is bored at home and can't stand being locked up in a small apartment in ordinary Brussels, until the day she decides to revolt against her dad...
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Striking a balance between the dark and combative religious humour and its more saccharine elements proves difficult.
Time Out London by Cath Clarke
This is a film with a big heart and an even bigger imagination.
Screen International by Charles Gant
With the consistently playful, often delightful and frequently funny God fantasy The Brand New Testament, the Belgian auteur delivers his most substantially enjoyable film since 1991’s Toto The Hero.
The Hollywood Reporter by Deborah Young
It is irresistibly laugh-out-loud and feel-good.
Slant Magazine by Diego Semerene
At first, the film’s dark humor is amusing, only for it to wear off once an actual plot kicks into motion.
Lovely to look at, charmingly played throughout, and with a sense of fun that is more playful than subversive, The Brand New Testament is a bouncy treat: not so much heresy as whimsy, with a smooth matte finish and a mischievous grin.
The Guardian by Jordan Hoffman
The Brand New Testament is a peppy, original and (importantly) very sweet story.
While the ultra-clever first act stockpiles sufficient admiration from audiences to sustain the film, the bulk of The Brand New Testament concerns itself with Van Dormael’s most persistent preoccupation: the tug-of-war between fate and free will.
Users who liked this film also liked
Ashes and Diamonds
(Popiół i diament)
A resistance fighter in WWII Poland questions his commitment to the cause.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Poland • 1958
- Director Andrzej Wajda
- Cast Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyżewska, Wacław Zastrzeżynski, Adam Pawlikowski, Bogumił Kobiela, Jan Ciecierski
- Genre Drama, Romance, War
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Apple TV, Amazon Video, Kanopy
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
(Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse)
Madman? Monster? Murderer? Scientist?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Germany, France • 1933
- Director Fritz Lang
- Cast Rudolf Klein-Rogge, Oscar Beregi Sr., Paul Bernd, Henry Pleß, Otto Wernicke, Paul Henckels
- Genre Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max
A Touch of Spice
(Πολίτικη κουζίνα)
Cinnamon... is bitter and sweet, just like a woman
- ✭ ✭
- Greece, Turkey • 2003
- Director Tassos Boulmetis
- Cast Georges Corraface, Ieroklis Michaelidis, Renia Louizidou, Stelios Mainas, Odysseas Papaspiliopoulos, Tamer Karadağlı
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Hoopla, Kanopy
Bent
- United Kingdom, Japan • 1997
- Director Sean Mathias
- Cast Lothaire Bluteau, Clive Owen, Brian Webber, Ian McKellen, Mick Jagger, Paul Bettany
- Genre Drama, History, Romance
- Available on Hoopla, Peacock, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, Vudu, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV, Pluto TV, Kanopy, Plex, Plex Channel
Narco
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2004
- Director Gilles Lellouche, Tristan Aurouet
- Cast Guillaume Canet, Zabou Breitman, Guillaume Gallienne, François Berléand, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Vincent Rottiers
- Genre Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Songs from the Second Floor
(Sånger från andra våningen)
It’s not easy being human. Is a small slice of misery all we have?
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Sweden, Norway, Denmark • 2000
- Director Roy Andersson
- Cast Lars Nordh, Stefan Larsson, Bengt C.W. Carlsson, Torbjörn Fahlström, Sten Andersson, Rolando Núñez
- Genre Drama, Comedy
- Available on Criterion Channel
Testament of Orpheus
(Le Testament d'Orphée)
Jean Cocteau's poetic allegory focuses on the experiences of a poet outside of time and reality.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 1960
- Director Jean Cocteau
- Cast Jean Cocteau, Edouard Dermithe, Henri Crémieux, François Périer, Claudine Auger, Françoise Arnoul
- Genre Drama, Fantasy
- Available on Criterion Channel, Max Amazon Channel, Max, Plex, Plex Channel
The Eighth Day
(Le huitième jour)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Belgium, France, United Kingdom • 1996
- Director Jaco Van Dormael
- Cast Daniel Auteuil, Pascal Duquenne, Miou-Miou, Henri Garcin, Isabelle Sadoyan, Fabienne Loriaux
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Submarino
Two brothers meet at their mother's funeral, each in his way on a path of self-destruction, both haunted by a tragedy in their youth.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Denmark, Sweden • 2010
- Director Thomas Vinterberg
- Cast Jakob Cedergren, Peter Plaugborg, Gustav Fischer Kjærulff, Morten Rose, Henrik Strube, Helene Reingaard Neumann
- Genre Drama
- Available on Vudu
Toto the Hero
(Toto le héros)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Belgium, France, Germany • 1991
- Director Jaco Van Dormael
- Cast Michel Bouquet, Gisela Uhlen, Jo De Backer, Mireille Perrier, Thomas Godet, Sandrine Blancke
- Genre Drama
- Available on Kanopy
The Widower
(Il vedovo)
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 1959
- Director Dino Risi
- Cast Alberto Sordi, Franca Valeri, Leonora Ruffo, Livio Lorenzon, Nando Bruno, Ruggero Marchi
- Genre Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Eisenstein in Guanajuato
In 1931, following the success of the film Battleship Potemkin, Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein travels to the city of Guanajuato, Mexico, to shoot a new film.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Netherlands, Belgium, Finland • 2015
- Director Peter Greenaway
- Cast Elmer Bäck, Luis Alberti, Rasmus Slätis, Jakob Öhrman
- Genre Comedy, Romance
- Available on Google Play Movies, Vudu, YouTube, Tubi TV
A Five Star Life
(Viaggio sola)
Irene is entirely devoted to her job as an inspector of luxury hotels. But one fateful event will change her mindset.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Italy • 2013
- Director Maria Sole Tognazzi
- Cast Margherita Buy, Stefano Accorsi, Fabrizia Sacchi, Gianmarco Tognazzi, Alessia Barela, Lesley Manville
- Genre Drama, Romance
- Available on OVID, Amazon Video, Kanopy, Plex Channel
Boomerang
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2015
- Director François Favrat
- Cast Mélanie Laurent, Laurent Lafitte, Audrey Dana, Wladimir Yordanoff, Bulle Ogier, Anne Suarez
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- United Kingdom • 2015
- Director Douglas Mackinnon
- Cast Peter Capaldi, Alex Kingston, Greg Davies, Matt Lucas, Phillip Rhys, Rowan Polonski
- Genre Drama, Science Fiction, Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Fall in Love at First Kiss
(一吻定情)
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Taiwan, China • 2019
- Director Frankie Chen
- Cast Darren Wang, Lin Yun, Kenji Chen, Cecilia Choi, Christopher Lee Ming-Shun, Christy Chung
- Genre Romance, Comedy
- Available on No streaming locations found.
Weird, irreverent, and absurdly funny, this movie is one of my favorite indie films. I love how it subverts the concept of religion in a way that's both fantastical and incredibly grounding. The intersecting stories of each of its side characters feels inexplicably human and real, despite the film's outlandish premise. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll cringe... and you just might walk away feeling a little lighter.