The Brand New Testament
Directed by Jaco Van Dormael
- comedy
- fantasy
The story
God lives in Brussels. On Earth though, God is a coward, morally pathetic and odious to 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 it’s like
Bright, flat, slightly off-kilter Brussels interiors: cramped apartments under cool fluorescent and grey daylight, with saturated pops of colour in costumes and signage, and a deadpan camera that holds on rooms and faces a beat longer than comfortable. Director Jaco Van Dormael frames his absurd premise with tidy symmetry and whimsical inserts, while a playful, quirky score keeps the mood buoyant rather than bleak. The surreal comedy moves at a brisk, episodic clip, shifting between tender and mischievous, with a dry, gently irreverent wit that treats the cosmic and the mundane with equal straight-faced seriousness. Its emotional register is wry warmth: a sulking, neglected family slowly finding their footing and a daughter discovering the wider world. Intensity is low: some crude language and sexual humour, a few mildly violent or grotesque comic moments, and no real gore or cruelty. Suits a playful evening in, a quirky weekend watch, or anyone who enjoys offbeat, irreverent fantasy with a big heart and a sharp, skeptical sense of humour.
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