The Brand New Testament

The premise is that God is a grumpy dad who enjoys making arbitrary rules to, in general, make people miserable. We all know his son, but living in his shadow is God's daughter. Fed up with his behavior, she takes matters into her own hands, setting off a world-wide panic as she texts to everyone the exact dates that God has decided they'll die. Their reactions to this news is, to say the least, life-changing. Wonderful performances and a lot of fun for those who love their humor as dark as it gets.

Incredible film - wise, witty, and pointing at exactly the core issues in our current cultural crisis. Slightly distracting to have in French with English subtitles, but ce la vie!

He's mean, he's nasty, he's cruel to his kids, and insulting to his wife - all like the 4th century Marcian heresy depicted God, the Father. He gets his come-uppings though and in a most hilarious way. Such a serious subject turns into top-notch comedy. Yolande Moreau plays God's wife and such a meek, subjugated wife yet a wonderful woe begone character.

Not for the pious, but a wonderfully dark, irreverent imagination of how the world might be if God was a cantankerous curmudgeon living in seclusion in an apartment in Brussels with his wife and adolescent daughter. The daughter, after a chat with her brother "JC", escapes the apartment after pulling a prank on her father that has major and universal ramifications, and starts collecting her own group of disciples. Now things get a bit more bizarre. The middle of the film is a bit slow, but the ending is delightful and left me with the question, "who really is God in this story after all?"

Yes I loved the movie. Very new and fresh in so many ways. The charactors are very much lovely and the editing technique is refreshing. If you liked the movie ToTo Le Hero, don't miss this one.

Quirky, dark and FUN, this is my new favorite movie. I host a movie night once a month and showed this one recently and EVERYONE loved it! It is rollicking, irreverent, and sweet. Buy it and show your movie loving friends!

It’s a great movie I watched first on Prime. Ordered DVD, it had defects-froze and skipped in several places. Returned it, 2nd replacement DVD did same thing. Company making DVDs fault? Returning 2nd DVD. 5 stars for the movie, -5 for defective DVDs!!

Just received this from Amazon. It's the funniest movie I've seen in a long time. It explains why so many bad things happen to to people even thou God is omnipotent. I can't recommendd this movie enough!

Jaco Van Dormael’s The Brand New Testament (2015) arrives like a breath of the sweetest fresh air. From the land of Rene Magritte comes this peculiar, ambitious, gem of surrealist cinema. God exists. He lives in Belgium. And he’s a monstrous prick played with vim by Benoît Poelvoorde, the star of Man Bites Dog (1992). The flavour of this film is not dissimilar. God sits at his computer all day thinking up tortures for humanity… Bread always falls jam side down. As soon as you get into the bath, the phone will ring. Hassles never happen one at a time… He is a sadistic drunken lout who is cruel to his wife and daughter and hateful of everything. His young daughter finally snaps and breaks into God’s computer, and texts everyone on Earth their death dates. This changes humanity, largely for the better, but… The rest is like an epic poem. On Earth the daughter seeks out six apostles to write a brand new testament. Not every element is perfect, but Catherine Deneuve makes out with a gorilla. God gets beaten up by skinheads. And God’s daughter’s boyfriend becomes a girl. Sensational! The best film no one has ever heard about. What a joy.

Das beste Film ever! Witzig, klug, rührend, mit sehr wichtige Weisheiten. Ein Film, dass alle Menschen sehen sollten und nachdenken.

Brilliant, surreal, and very funny fantastical comedy. Catherine Deneuve, Yolande Moreau, Benoît Poelvoorde, François Damiens, and all supporting cast are brilliant, but especially so is the actress Pili Groyne who plays Ea who helps narrate the story. Next to these big stars of French language cinema she's just as much a star of the show. The look of the film is great with cinematography from Christophe Beaucarne, and there is great music including some beautiful classical pieces such as Handel's “Lascia ch'io pianga from "Rinaldo" Act 2” (I'm not familiar with the title of Handel's piece of music, but I recognised the tune straight away and it is beautiful) and more (slightly) up-to-date songs like Charles Trenet's “La Mer” (which for me has got to be one of the best French songs), and lots besides. The most praise must go to Belgian director (and writer) of “The Brand New Testament”, Jaco Van Dormael, as he has created a wonderful film as well as referencing other film within “The Brand New Testament”. It is a film that could be enjoyed on so many different levels by different viewers. If you are at all attracted to the idea of God existing within a somewhat dysfunctional family, and doing so sat behind a computer in Brussels, then I'd definitely say to give the film a go. On the DVD (ASIN: B01FIB7M5Q) you get: “The Brand New Testament” (1 hour 50 minutes) Scene Selection Audio Set Up: 2.0 Stereo, 5.1 Dolby Digital The film has embedded English Subtitles

A very different interpretation on the "God" complex. An excellent film with superb acting. Imagine how we would react if we knew the exact date when we are set to expire ... WOW!!! Deneuve is, as always, fabulous.

Very zany and thought provoking. Will get you talking for sure.