Lourdes -- Film Review

Filmed in an austere, near-documentary style, "Lourdes" takes viewers deep inside one of the world's most popular religious shrines. Writer-director Jessica Hausner uses a multiple sclerosis patient as a sort of case study to show how the site operates as well as to question the sources of religious faith. Fascinating on social and theological levels, the film is less compelling as a straightforward narrative. Still, adventurous filmgoers will be rewarded by its unusually open-ended storyline.