DEUS IRAE (2024)

As a pious, zealous servant, Father Xavier has always religiously followed the Vatican’s manual to perform his exorcisms: a cross, holy water and a decent dose of psychology. While each performance is an emotionally draining merry-go-round that leaves him exhausted for weeks, his past few gigs have turned out particularly trying. Usually, the family offers him a little cafecito after he has performed his services, but the last couple o’ times upon regaining consciousness, the families were systematically slaughtered and marked with a mystical symbol. The calling card of a gang of defrocked priests whose practice of exorcisms is a little unorthodox, armed with Bibles, semi-automatics and blasphemies. Their goal? Becoming even worse than absolute Evil to beat it. As for Father Xavier, he’s finally considering taking a job interview for a position at the dark side…
After an eponymous short film that has picked up more than 25 international awards, it was clear Pedro Cristiani was going in for the long haul which included passing the script through the Marché du Film at Cannes, our very own BIF Market and Sitges, where it won the first prize at their Pitchbox. The result? A beautiful, unbaptized baby that is feverish, paranoiac, not very Catholic and tormented, in the image of its anti-hero compared to whom the plagues of Egypt were but child’s play…