Citizen Saint

As a piece of drama, Citizen Saint is opaque and cryptic, leaving many loose ends unresolved. Even so, it is never boring, holding our attention with outlandish plot twists and strong performances. But its key strength is as an exquisite visual artwork, largely thanks to Krum Rodriguez’s gorgeous high-resolution monochrome cinematography, which makes every shot an Old Master tableaux of fine-grained detail and chiaroscuro shadow.

Citizen Saint treats the sensitive subject with the subtlety it deserves. While some of the answers the movie proposes might be uncomfortable, it still shines for never falling prey to oversimplifications.