The 2026 Venice Film Festival is currently underway, and critics are getting their first looks at big upcoming movies like Primetime. That movie promises to make a lot of waves when it opens in theaters later this month, but there are also smaller, quirkier movies making the rounds.
For instance, Luc Besson (Léon: The Professional, The Fifth Element) has written a new mob drama that is, by most accounts, as violent as it is absurd. Directed by Barthélémy Grossmann, the movie is set in New York City in the 1990s. Kiefer Sutherland plays the titular religious leader, a man of the cloth by day and an avenging angel by night; TheWrap calls him “Catholic Batman.” Decked out in a long, flowing black coat and a cappello romano, Father Joe kills drug dealers to stop them from selling to people under the age of 21, although he also tries to reform some by injecting them with a poison and only giving them the antidote if they show up for mass. He gets more resistance when he tries this technique on mob boss Gio Falcone (Al Pacino).
The plot sounds self-evidently ridiculous, but critics praise Sutherland for grounding the movie. “Sutherland capably sells this priest’s inherent contradictions, imbuing Joe with serenity and grace while extolling God’s belief in humanity’s goodness – even in the midst of offing criminals with the precision of a superhero or John Wick,” writes Tim Grierson of Screen Daily. “Because the veteran actor never winks, Joe’s moral decency feels grounded, stemming from the same place as his murderous vengeance.” TheWrap’s Siddhant Adlakha puts it more succinctly: “Sutherland’s straightforward commitment to the bit is a delight unto itself.”
As for Al Pacino, the actor reportedly tones things down. “Amazingly, Al Pacino is about the only thing that isn’t over the top here, generously giving center stage to Kiefer Sutherland in a role that’s fun, unbelievable — and sometimes unbelievably funny,” writes Damon Wise of Deadline. However, Selina Sondermann of The Upcoming saw this as underwhelming, writing that the 86-year-old screen legend “phoned in his performance, with none of his familiar spark to be found. ​​​​​” Father Joe also stars Ever Anderson — who critics note is the spitting image of her mother, frequent Besson collaborator Milla Jovovich — as Felicity, a teenager who joins Father Joe’s war on crime. That dynamic may remind Besson’s fans of Léon: The Professional.
Luc Besson’s movies often balance a campy sensibility with sincerity. The jury is out on whether Father Joe manages this tightrope act. “Anyone hoping it will capitalize on its pulpy prologue and go full camp will be sorely disappointed, as Sutherland approaches the vigilante role with all the same self-seriousness he brought to Jack Bauer on 24,” writes Marshall Shaffer for The Playlist.
Father Joe feels paradoxically overstuffed and too thin, caught somewhere between a bloated TV pilot and a streamlined feature film. This baffling detour proves as haphazard as the film’s visuals, which are so low-rent that they cannot bother to source period-accurate B-roll of the Manhattan skyline…And yet, despite all the film’s manifold shortcomings… the ending proves perversely moving.
TheWrap agrees that the movie fails to “hide its seams” when it comes to its low-budget visuals, and takes issue with the languid editing in the action scenes. But Screen Daily says that every action scene “ripples with epic urgency” and that the production values are “impressive for a film with a presumably tight budget.”
Father Joe may be a polarizing movie whenever it gets a wider release, whether in theaters or on streaming. Deadline may put it best: “Is it any good? Who knows.”
