[4][5] The film is loosely based on the 1985 non-fiction book Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy by Judith C.

In 17th-century Pescia, Italy, young Benedetta Carlini is enrolled by her parents in a Theatine convent run by Abbess Felicita, to become a nun.

After a particularly fraught vision, where a man whom she mistakes for Jesus saves her from being gang raped, Benedetta falls into a deep illness.

Abbess Felicita is sceptical because Benedetta's stigmata manifested while she was asleep, not during prayer, and her forehead lacks the marks of a crown of thorns.

Sister Christina, Felicita's daughter, suspects that Benedetta's wounds are self-inflicted, after spotting a nearby shard of pottery.

As a plague begins to ravage the countryside, Benedetta has a vision that Pescia will be spared and orders the abbey closed to prevent infection.

In the town square, before she is to be executed, Benedetta reveals new stigmata and, speaking in a male voice, announces that the Angel of Death approaches.

Belgian actress Virginie Efira, who played a supporting part as a devout Catholic in Elle, was cast in the leading role of Benedetta Carlini, a 17th-century nun who suffers from disturbing religious and erotic visions.

[10] Brown stated that "Paul Verhoeven and David Birke have written an imaginative and spellbinding script that explores the intersection of religion, sexuality, and human ambition in an age of plague and faith.

[12]On 3 April 2018, Lambert Wilson told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche that he has a role in the film.

[16] Ben Saïd also confirmed that Louise Chevillotte, Olivier Rabourdin, Clotilde Courau and Hervé Pierre had been cast in the film.

[20] While mostly following the account from Brown's book, Verhoeven explained in an interview that much of the ending was fictional: he added the revolt of the citizens, and the attempt to burn Benedetta at the stake was borrowed from the story of Joan of Arc.

[21] On 16 February 2018, The Hollywood Reporter announced Pathé would be producing and distributing the film in France and would also be handling international sales.

[25] On 10 May 2020, Cannes director Thierry Fremaux confirmed the film's selection and stated that "Paul Verhoeven delivers an erotic and mischievous, also political, vision of the Middle Ages in a grandiose production.

"[26] Benedetta had its world premiere in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 74th Cannes Film Festival on 9 July 2021,[27][28] with a theatrical release in France on the same day.

[29][30] By the end of its run, it was screened at film festivals in Brussels,[31] Busan,[32] Haifa,[33] Hong Kong,[34] Karlovy Vary,[35] London,[36] New York,[37] and San Sebastian.

The website's critics consensus reads, "Precariously walking a tightrope of varying genres and tones, Benedetta provokes salient questions about sexual freedom and its relationship to faith.

[52][53] The film was refused classification in Singapore by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) due to "portrayal of Jesus Christ and members of the church in a manner that is insensitive and offensive to the Christian and Catholic faith.