Shia LaBeoufmakes his big screen return inPadre Pio, a new moviefrom Abel Ferrarathat made waves during the 2022 Venice Film Festival and is now set to be released to theaters by Gravitas Ventures. In an exclusive clip, LaBeouf appears as the titular Franciscan monk. You can check it out below.
The movie has already received glowing praise from its film festival appearances, but it’s certainly something deeper than your usual summer blockbuster, which could see it struggle to gain box office standing among some of the big attention grabbing movies out in the cinematic landscape at the moment. Considering Ferrara’s previous films, and LaBeouf’s spiritual and artistic choices, that’s probably besides the point for them. The synopsis forPadre Pioreads as follows:
“It is the end of World War I and the young Italian soldiers are making their way back to San Giovanni Rotondo, a land of poverty, historic violence and the iron clad rule of the church and its wealthy landowners. Families are desperate, the men are broken, but victorious. Padre Pio (Shia Labeouf) also arrives, to a remote Capuchin monastery, to begin his ministry evoking an aura of compelling charisma, saintliness and storied visions of Jesus, Mary and the Devil himself. The eve of the first free election in Italy sets the stage for an historic, and metaphoric massacre, an apocalyptic event, one that changes the course of the world.”
Padre Pioalso stars Cristina Chiriac, Marco Leonardi, Asia Argento, Vincenzo Crea, Luca Lionello, Brando Pacitto, Stella Mastrantonio and Salvatore Ruocco.
Related:Shia LaBeouf Becomes a Priest in Padre Pio Trailer
Padre Pio’s Director Has Praised Shia LaBeouf’s Dedication to Method Acting.
While there have often been criticisms given to certain Hollywood stars who go into method acting for their movies, Abel Ferrara is not one who is about to put down Shia LaBeouf for his way of getting the most out of his role in the movie. While previously discussing the release of the movie,Ferrara talked about LaBeoufbeing able to get into the character of a Catholic Priest. He said:
“He’d just had a religious conversion. He had just begun recovery. You know, I’m in recovery, so we had that in common. What I wanted, he got it, you know. And I didn’t know a lot about him. I don’t need to know about somebody’s work. I just go with my gut feeling man, especially with actors. I could feel it was right. I knew it was right. And he immediately jumped in his truck and took off for wherever, that mission outside of LA, with the Franciscan monks. And he just sat in the parking lot. Okay, finally they came out and said, ‘What are you doing?’ He said, ‘I’m gonna play Padre Pio. These guys, they’re not cynical, it’s not an attitude, so it’s like, ‘Okay, fine, come on inside.’ And then he began his new journey into Catholicism.”
How the movie will be received is something that will soon be known, asPadre Piois released on June 2.
