You are here:

The New Gospel

Name: The New Gospel
Director: Milo Rau
Released: 2020
Duration: 107 min

Representation Score

8.5/10

Excellent

2020

Director

Milo Rau

Runtime

107 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Milo Rau’s documentary-performance succeeds by using a religious framework to dismantle traditional Western hierarchies. By transplanting the Gospel into a modern context, the film shifts the focus from divine providence to the urgent, systemic oppression of migrant workers in Italy. The work's primary strength is its profound engagement with racial and cultural justice. It effectively uses the 'Revolt of Dignity' to center the voices of underrepresented, displaced populations, turning a sacred text into a vehicle for contemporary social critique. However, the film's impact is uneven across individual identity markers. While it excels at systemic analysis, it offers little engagement with LGBTQ+ identities, specific gendered subversions, or disability narratives, remaining focused on broader political struggles.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does The New Gospel have LGBTQ+ representation?

Fair

The film does not include explicit LGBTQ+ representations or non-cisgender romantic dynamics. Instead, it focuses on broader human rights issues.

How does The New Gospel portray gender?

Fair

The production challenges patriarchal religious hierarchies by reinterpreting traditional iconography. However, it does not provide specific evidence of sustained subversion of gender roles or focused female empowerment.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The New Gospel?

Excellent

The film excels by centering the lived experiences of non-white, displaced migrants. It uses performative reenactments to highlight the ability to act of racialized individuals within the European landscape.

How does The New Gospel represent religion and culture?

Excellent

The narrative offers a powerful critique of Western institutions and rigid morality. It frames the sacred as a tool for social justice and anti-capitalist struggle.

Does The New Gospel include disability representation?

Fair

There is no significant evidence of physical or neurodivergent disability representation. The thematic focus remains strictly on socioeconomic and political status.

Present on Screen

Exceptional centering of non-white, displaced migrant perspectives.
Powerful deconstruction of traditional Western and religious institutions.
Effective use of performance to highlight systemic racialized exploitation.

Limited or Absent

Lack of explicit representation for LGBTQ+ identities.
Limited focus on female empowerment or gender-specific subversions.
Minimal engagement with disability narratives or neurodivergent perspectives.

Official Synopsis

What would Jesus preach in the 21st century? Who would his disciples be? And how would today's society respond to the return of the Son of God? With The New Gospel, Milo Rau is staging a "Revolt of Dignity". Led by political activist Yvan Sagnet, the movement is fighting for the rights of migrants who came to Europe across the Mediterranean to be enslaved on the tomato fields in southern Italy and to live in ghettos under inhumane conditions.

How are these scores produced? →