Revelations of Divine Love (2026) Film Review

Caroline Golum’s Revelations of Divine Love is a no-budget, somewhat experimental and theatrical historical drama.

The end result is definitely a movie that won’t be for everyone, but that feels daring and different without sacrificing narrative, tone or emotion.

Newcomer Tessa Strain plays Julian of Norwich, a woman of faith who falls ill and, right before getting better, starts having visions of Christ (Abraham Makany, of Succession) at the cross alongside the Virgin Mary (Marit Liang) and a Roman soldier. This sparks the local priest’s (Theodore Bouloukos, of Eephus) interest, so he decides to transform Julian into an anchoress: a woman who withdraws from secular society to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented life.

In Julian’s case, though, her faith is intensified not so much through prayer but through her writing. In real life, she was the only anchoress from her time who wrote about her experiences, meaning we would know nothing about her or the society she was brought up in without her writing. This is made evident in Revelations of Divine Love, which shows Julian staying inside her bedroom-cell, at first barely interacting with priests or with her maid, Sarah (Isabel Pask). Soon enough, though, through her work and her wisdom, she becomes a Holy Figure for the people in and around her town, which ends up having both good and bad consequences.

Clocking in at a skinny 73 minutes, Revelations of Divine Love is a rather simple movie, which, of course, doesn’t mean watching it is a simplistic experience. In fact, I believe some viewers may have trouble connecting with the material, not necessarily because it’s poorly written or unconvincingly performed, but because it feels extremely foreign. There’s a palpable barrier between Revelations of Divine Love and the viewers, which turns the film into something easy to admire but hard to enjoy in a conventional way.

This is because the movie doesn’t feel like a traditional narrative, but more like a sequence of events that involve Julian in some way, and that admittedly culminate in a rather emotional series of scenes which, interestingly, are the only ones that trade the play-like sets for something more organic. Nevertheless, the majority of the film doesn’t try to be realistic or historically accurate, but rather an artistically free representation of a real story, in which all actors take the proceedings absolutely seriously, even if they’re surrounded by rubbery brick walls, hand-painted backgrounds and ceilings designed to look like the sky.

It’s a risky proposition, but director Golum makes the most of it, aware of the fact that her almost nonexistent budget would have never allowed her to use accurate costumes, real locations or tons of extras. Thus, she manages to develop a rather striking aesthetic that, once again, wouldn’t look out of place in a play, but that feels both artificial and daring in a professional motion picture. Of course, these kinds of artistic choices aren’t for everyone. Some, like Yours Truly, will admire what Golum and co. have done here, and will enjoy most of what Revelations of Divine Love has to offer. Others won’t be able to even try to figure out what’s going on, and quite understandably at that.

Moreover, even though most of the performances are quite good, some of the secondary characters are played unconvincingly by actors who never quite seem to believe in the fiction they’re supposed to be taking part in. Fortunately, though, the main characters don’t suffer from these problems. Tessa Strain is quite good at playing a pious, devout and slightly rebellious Julian, and Isabel Pask’s Sarah takes part in some of the film’s more emotional scenes. The movie even has a male character played by a woman, something right out of the tradition of old-school English plays.

Despite the film’s uneven pacing and a couple of flat performances, I can’t say I regret watching Revelations of Divine Love. It’s always interesting to watch something so different, original and uninterested in being conventionally realistic. Revelations of Divine Love is the exact opposite of what many contemporary productions aspire to be, which is why I’m sure some audiences won’t be able to even finish it. People looking for something risky and interesting, both creatively and historically, though, will find a lot to like in Revelations of Divine Love.

Revelations of Divine Love will have a limited engagement at Anthology Film Archives from March 27, 2026, followed by more screenings in New York at Nitehawk Prospect Park (April 5), Low Cinema (April 11), Roxy Cinema (April 17-26), and Spectacle (April 24-26). More cities and theatrical dates to be announced.