In the depths of the Polish countryside is a youthful, energetic priest overseeing a group home for troubled boys in their late teens. Adam (Andrzej Chyra) has been transferred here not because of any dark abusive deeds (director Malgoska Szumowska meticulously avoids any such impression) but because he has romantic yearnings for other men.
Priests and nuns tormented by earthly desires are a movie staple, and at first the director’s chief contribution to the genre seems to be slowing the conflict way down, the better to focus on the boys’ perfect youthful looks and golden light on rural landscapes. The boys are as foul-mouthed as they are gorgeous, every other word a slur or a curse; naturally, the one that Adam falls for (Mateusz Kosciukiewicz) is nearly mute.
Around the midpoint, Adam’s torment gets worse as the boys, especially a swaggering newcomer (Tomasz Schuchardt), begin to suspect what he’s hiding. The second half is therefore much more interesting than the first; even so, the whole movie suffers from a lack of narrative momentum and a surfeit of wordless shots of men exchanging deep, meaningful glances. Chyra is Szumowska’s greatest asset; he makes the priest’s religious devotion as real as his love.