The miraculous and the tacky coincide in writer/director Jessica Hausner's wry study of the hopes and hypocrisies of those visiting the Catholic shrine. Long confined to a wheelchair, Christine (Sylvie Testud) returns to Lourdes as much in need of a holiday as a cure for her multiple sclerosis. Frustrated by the coddling of an officious nurse and her devout roommate, she becomes intrigued by the romance between charity workers Marie and Kuno (Léa Seydoux and Bruno Todeschini). However, Christine's attitude changes dramatically when an apparent healing miracle occurs. Using Martin Gschlacht's prowling camera to observe acts of both genuine Christian charity and crass commercialism with equal detachment, Hausner ponders the mysteries of faith with a respect that's teasingly tinged with irony, as she examines such thorny issues as divine intervention, piety and exploitation. This is meticulously made, knowingly played and disconcertingly subversive.