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The end of World War I was a difficult time for many people around the world. In Italy, the people engaged in a class war, with the working class fighting to choose their own government. And in telling the story of a young priest, Padre Pio explores this turbulent time for a small Italian town.
Padre Pio explores the early years in the life of a Roman Catholic saint. When Pio (Shia LaBeouf) arrives at his friary in a small Italian town, he arrives in a community that’s struggling. As many of the town’s men return from fighting for their country in the war, they find themselves back in the fields, barely surviving on the pay they receive for working the land for the wealthy landowners who control the town. As the town prepares for their first elections, unrest erupts between the landowners and radical socialists who are prepared to fight for change.
As people clash on the streets and in the fields, as one young woman anxiously prays for her husband’s return, the young priest wrestles with powerful visions, with his own sins, and with the feeling that God has abandoned him. He’s clearly a tormented man—one whose tortured cries can be heard throughout the church—yet he still reaches out to the people, hearing confession and even performing miracles. But his story is told in a manner that’s so hazy and atmospheric that, unless you already know Padre Pio’s life story, you’ll never really understand what’s happening.
Meanwhile, though the story is supposed to be about this future saint, it’s really more about the conflicts playing out in the nearby town—of the growing tension between wealthy landowners and the people who work their land. Their story is told in snippets—of the socialists’ fight for a voice, of the landowners’ fight to maintain control, of a woman’s struggle to provide for her children while she waits for her husband to return home from the war. And while it offers a fascinating glimpse into a turbulent time in Italy’s history, it all feels strange and disconnected—just hints of a story instead of something that feels coherent and complete.
Padre Pio may have set out to tell the story of the life of a saint, but it gets lost along the way. And, in the process, it ends up telling parts of two different stories—neither of which feels especially satisfying.
Padre Pio arrives in theaters on June 2, 2023.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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