Alternately harrowing and humbling, this is a story of ordinary men whose compassion is tested in the cruelest, most profound fashion.

Beauvois takes his time limning the daily rhythms of the monastery, lingering on its most lyrical and sensuous moments, so that when violence finally reaches its gates the effect is all the more chilling.

The film, directed by Xavier Beauvois, moves back and forth between the monks doing their daily chores and the decisions they must face as a group.

Examines the fragile yet luminous weaving together of God within the lives of humanity in a way that is at times painful, heartbreaking, inspiring, and awesome.