This 115-minute drama starts with a five minute prayer, recited almost entirely in Latin. The camera focuses on Maria (Isabelle Huppert), a nun fervently glancing at the others in the congregation. Sister Edwina (Florence Pugh) is the young novice engaged in verse; her commitment to God is a tenet of her faith. This nunnery is set in Madrid during the 1930s, and a selection have decided to partake on the Camino de Santiago. The traditional pilgrimage is intended to connect those who walk it with their environment.

They take a precarious coach to Seville, where they intend to start the Camino. Edwina agrees to walk with Maria and some of the other nuns, and they sleep in tents over stone-trodden terrain. Unable to rest, Edwina walks into another tent, only to discover Maria performing cunnilingus on another woman. Embarrassed, Maria chases after Edwina, and after brushing her tears away, explains that this commune has performed sex rituals on this walk for centuries. Unconvinced by this story, Edwina grows accustomed to the sounds of cascading moans. Tempted by the passion, she enters Maria’s tent where the pair start kissing passionately. “You too can be God’s mouthpiece”, Maria informs the younger lady, suggesting that she could take part an the esoteric ritual, which takes place in Galicia (the region of Spain where the Camino ends)

Initially unconvinced, Edwina reluctantly acquiesces, as her relationship with Maria blossoms. The two regularly engage in sexual play, with Maria acting as the dominant party. Pushing her fingers in Edwina’s vagina, Maria recites the Hail Mary, causing her to imagine the goddess in flagrante delicto (Mary is performed by a particularly feisty Lesley Manville). Edwina worries that Maria is straying from the core of their shared faith, causing her to confide in Spanish priest Miguel (Diego Luna).

Unbeknownst to Edwina, Maria and Miguel considered marrying before returning to the priesthood. In a flashback, Miguel recalls the handcuffs, the candles and the nails that the duo used in the bedroom. Miguel says Maria could have been “God’s mouthpiece”, but was talked out of it by her parents. He keeps Edwina in his basement, where she fellates him as an act of religious service, and the two wait for Maria to turn up at his house, so he can remind her of her purpose. “She can take your place,” he purrs at Edwina.

Confessedly inspired by Bruce La Bruce’s sexually explicit The Visitor (which the Italian director listed amongst his favourite films of 2024), Luca Guadagnino has unveiled his most incendiary work yet, and certainly his most profane in terms. In a key scene, Pugh sits naked, her supple breasts lilting at the camera, while Huppert’s character licks her rear end clean. The ménage à trois between Maria, Edwina and the formerly Virgin Mary has artful connotations, as it showcases three bastions of Christianity – teacher, disciple and founder – engaged in a sexual synergy, exhibiting the sanctity of change in a prosperous religion.

The story reaches its climax when the three characters reach Santiago de Compostela, the capital of Galicia and the Camino’s final destination. The pilgrim’s staff acquires a very creative new use, hardly compatible with the teachings of Jesus Christ as we know them. The more susceptible viewers may never eat a scallop from its shelf again.

Giving the feature extra heft, God’s Mouthpiece blends natural scenery with sound-stages, and one of the sex rituals was reportedly filmed at Pinewood (which may explain the United Kingdom as one of the production countries). The vastness of the stage – a cocktail of reds, whites and crucifixes – makes for a surreal, visceral experience. As is customary of Guadagnino’s back catalogue, much of the movie features an array of languages; nuns speak English, French, Spanish, Italian and Latin. Miguel also speaks Galician when he chants at a pagan God, as if suggesting that Christianity and paganism are united by tongue.

Huppert has form in erotic cinema, considering she played a depraved character in The Piano Teacher (Michael Haneke, 2001) but Pugh has never given herself so willingly to coital situations. There is a flicker in her eyes when she witnesses Huppert’s sylphlike body, a cross hanging over the two women. Some Christian viewers might be offended by the nudity (some might call it pornographic), but to Guadagnino’s credit, he never shoots a sex scene for the sole purpose of titillating audiences. Indeed during one scene, and this is no spoiler, Maria and Edwina exchange political views between vaginal licks. Edwina, it is apparent, stems from aristocratic heritage, while Maria is of more modest, humble leanings. The duo discuss their perspectives on the outside world, and how the Church should chastise/aid the impoverished. By the time Edwina climaxes, she does so knowing her role is to help those less privileged than she. God’s Mouthpiece is a dirtylicious movie.

God’s Mouthpiece is in cinemas on Friday, April 4th