God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija

Name: God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija
Genre: Drama
Released: June 25, 2021
Duration: 100 min
Rating: 50
Cast: Andrijana Kolevska, Bajrush Mjaku, Labina Mitevska, Nikola Kumev, Petar Mircevski

2021

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 6 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

No score yet

tbd

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

tbd	Your Score
tbd	User Score No score yet

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya (US Trailer 1)

Now Playing: God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya (US Trailer 1)

Movie Details & Credits

| Release Date: June 25, 2021 | Not Rated

Starring: Andrijana Kolevska, Bajrush Mjaku, Labina Mitevska, Nikola Kumev, Petar Mircevski, Simeon Moni Damevski, Stefan Vujisic, Suad Begovski, Violeta Sapkovska, Zorica Nusheva

Summary: Every January in a small town in North Macedonia, the high priest throws a cross into the local waters, while dozens of men charge for it. The one who finds the cross is believed to gain overall good fortune and prosperity. An unemployed single young woman Petrunya jumps into the water and catches the cross. In this conservative setting,Every January in a small town in North Macedonia, the high priest throws a cross into the local waters, while dozens of men charge for it. The one who finds the cross is believed to gain overall good fortune and prosperity. An unemployed single young woman Petrunya jumps into the water and catches the cross. In this conservative setting, her competitors feel they have every right to be furious: a woman dared to compete and achieve what they failed to succeed in. Petrunya insists that she is the winner and refuses to return the cross.… Expand

Director: Teona Strugar Mitevska

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 100 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Stream On

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Sarah Ward

Feb 14, 2019

Petrunya is careful to maintain the ideal balance, parodying the ridiculous response to its protagonist but never downplaying its realism. Read full review

Jay Weissberg

Feb 14, 2019

God Exists, Her Name is Petrunya positions itself as a feminist cry against a patriarchal Macedonia in the grips of bullying machismo and hidebound religion, yet the genial rushed ending undercuts its gender-equality thrust by presenting Petrunya’s emotional savior as a mustachioed guy in uniform. Read full review

Patrick Gamble

Feb 14, 2019

With God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunya, Mitevska has fashioned yet another bleak satire about Hegemonic masculinity in the Balkans. Read full review

Nicolas Rapold

Jun 24, 2021

The standoff with authorities dawdles and languishes, and a side plot with a TV journalist (Labina Mitevska) feels one-note. Still, we should all look forward to seeing what Petrunya does next. Read full review

Neil Young

Feb 14, 2019

There's no mistaking the earnest anger which motivates her assault on the sexist "dark ages" values still to be found in many Macedonian provincial areas, but expressing it in such clunky terms does no service to the cause. Read full review

The Guardian Peter Bradshaw

Feb 14, 2019

What begins as a sprightly, shrewd, visually striking satire from Macedonian director Teona Strugar Mitevska deflates in its second act into something unconvincing, sophomoric and dramatically redundant. Read full review

SEE ALL 6 REVIEWS

User Score

Write a Review

tbd

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

User Reviews

Brent_Marchant

Jul 9, 2021

Taking on an entrenched, centuries-old social, religious and political patriarchy is no easy feat, but the protagonist in director Teona Strugar Mitevska's latest offering unwittingly does just that. Set in the small Macedonian community of Stip, a discouraged, unemployed, single,Taking on an entrenched, centuries-old social, religious and political patriarchy is no easy feat, but the protagonist in director Teona Strugar Mitevska's latest offering unwittingly does just that. Set in the small Macedonian community of Stip, a discouraged, unemployed, single, plus-sized, thirty-something spinster who still lives with her parents becomes the unlikely center of attention when she impulsively participates in and wins a traditional male-only competition, inciting claims of impropriety, invoking civil unrest and theft of a religious icon (with no legal basis for backing up any of the charges, despite inflated vague allegations that she broke "the rules"). While the film crackles with biting satire and delivers an important and empowering message for women, it tends to get bogged down in repetitive, circular arguments at times, making the picture come across as somewhat heavy-handed and dogmatic (at least to viewers who reside in more tolerant and open-minded societies). But, then, for a culture that has long fought against progressive social change, perhaps such a sledgehammer approach is what's needed to get the message across to those who have staunchly resisted it and used whatever means available to them to reinforce such an archaic view. To many, it might seem that films like this should no longer be necessary in this day and age, but the fact that it was made suggests the opposite and that there's yet more work to be done.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

SEE ALL 1 REVIEWS