Padre Pio (2022) review

Just after the end of World War I, Franciscan friar Padre Pio (Shia LaBeouf) has strange 'visions' where he's tormented for avoiding combat while elsewhere the Socialists are in a fight against the Fascists in the first "free election" in Italy.  Non-believers (or even those on the fence) might want to steer clear of this picture, which clearly regards Pio as a kind of mystic in touch with some higher realm (the last shot shows the stigmata in his hands), but the real issue - aside from Ferrara's peculiar stylistic choices and getting too melodramatic - is that there is absolutely no attempt to merge the two narratives, because the story of the Saint feels more like a side note than the core of the film.  Moments do stick out in the memory in an abstract way, such as Pio being visited by the Virgin Mary (compare/contrast with Bad Lieutenant, if you wish) and Asia Argento (as "Tall Man") appearing suddenly to confess a very dark sin.  You have to hand it to Shia, though, who went "full method" and converted to Catholicism during the production: enjoy the guilt, brother.