I recently had the pleasure of watching Paul Roland’s religious thriller Exemplum (2023).
Exemplum is an independent film by Paul Roland and was made on a relative shoe-string budget of $10,000. It has a runtime of 1:36:39.
For the purposes of transparency, I was part of a group of individuals with whom director and writer Paul Roland shared his film. I was not specifically contacted and I was not asked to write a review.
I write this review because Exemplum is simply very good and is worth your time.
Synopsis
The film follows the story of Colin Jacobi – a Catholic priest who serves in a church nestled within a non-descript modern American city. Colin starts recording the confessions of the penitents on cassette tapes. The Catholic Church, of course, forbids this behaviour and another priest in the film points out that this is punishable by excommunication.
Initially, Colin records the confessions in case he needs to exonerate himself from false accusations of any untoward behaviour but he quickly discovers that the recordings provide a unique source of creative inspiration.
Picking out sinful and psychological patterns from the recordings, Colin begins a successful YouTube series composed of morality plays otherwise known as exemplums. He calls this YouTube series “Exemplum” and enjoys both success online and in the real world.
However, when the local bishop forbids him from expanding and capitalizing on his Exemplum project, Colin becomes desperate and, sensing he is going to lose it all, decides to blackmail one of the richest and most powerful of the penitents to regain control.
Why you should watch Exemplum
An exemplum in Exemplum.
The film’s premise may sound like another stereotypical new atheist attack on the Church of Rome, however, Exemplum is not this. While Exemplum does have a selfish priest as its main character and while the bishop in the film (who never appears on screen but is an important part of the plot) is massively corrupt, the film is not about the Catholic Church.
Firstly, to admit that there is corruption within an institution is not the same as saying it is inherently corrupt and that everything it stands for is false. Secondly, the film doesn’t follow the story of institutional religious corruption, it follows the story of Colin Jacobi and his personal sins.
Exemplum is about individual moral corruption. It is about the justifications, rationalizations and decisions which someone makes when he believes something good has been denied to him. It is the story of a man who makes one immoral decision after another while lying to himself it is for the greater good and that he deserves vengeance at any cost. It is about a man who falls to pride, arrogance and hubris - about a man who has convinced himself he has been unfairly punished despite his obvious wrongdoing.
If the above sounds interesting to you, then you should watch Exemplum because it is one of the best and most thoughtful thrillers I have ever seen.
I never thought I’d ever describe a thriller as “thoughtful”. I have watched clever thrillers which have kept me guessing until the end and I have encountered great depictions of psychology in film but I had never seen thoughtfulness in a thriller until I watched Exemplum.
Exemplum is thoughtful in that it has a psychological, philosophical and moral depth which you will not find in any mainstream film released this year or the last ten years. Colin is a compelling character because he is ensconced in and motivated by multiple layers of emotion and reasoning – his actions and rationalizations are not those of a simpleton or common criminal. They are instead the actions of a highly intelligent person who has succumbed to temptation and pride.
I personally enjoyed every minute and was especially impressed by the quality of the filmmaking, the acting and the plot. There wasn't a single frame or line which felt superfluous or vain – the execution was stellar.
Exemplum can be watched for free on YouTube and on Tubi (please note that Tubi is unavailable in Great Britain). It can also be rented on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand and YouTube Movies.
The trailer can be watched here: