Caroline Golum’s imaginative biopic about Julian of Norwich, starring Tessa Strain, debuts from Several Futures and begins a limited U.S. theatrical run starting march 27 in New York
Revelations of Divine Love, directed by Caroline Golum and starring Tessa Strain as the medieval mystic Julian of Norwich, will open in a limited U.S. theatrical rollout beginning in New York. The film premiered at the FIDMarseille and was acquired by the distributor Several Futures. Its U.S. run begins at Anthology Film Archives on March 27, followed by scheduled engagements at New York venues through April.
The film rejects conventional period reconstruction in favor of an artisanal visual strategy. Production took place on handcrafted stages in Queens, New York. The creative team prioritized tactile materials and practical effects over digital finishing. The aesthetic draws on sources as varied as illuminated manuscripts, the Pre-Raphaelites, and early Los Angeles Renaissance fairs.
Revelations of Divine Love takes its title and principal inspiration from Julian of Norwich’s text of the same name. Golum’s screenplay follows Julian from a near-fatal illness that provokes intense visions to her choice of religious seclusion and the decision to record those visions. The film frames the life as an irreverent biopic and foregrounds themes of plague, spiritual ecstasy, social unrest, and the act of writing, filtered through a persistent feminist lens.
The cast is led by Tessa Strain as Julian. Supporting roles include Theodore Bouloukos as Father Ambrose, Isabel Pask as Sarah, and Mary Jo Mecca as Julian’s mother. Golum opted for atmospheric verisimilitude rather than documentary mimicry. Sets and props are handcrafted. Visionary sequences rely on in-camera and practical effects. Festival critics noted the film’s measured pacing, theatrical diction, and a visual language that invites viewers to read historical cues as stylized mise-en-scène.
The film’s references are explicit. Invocations of illuminated manuscripts inform composition and ornament. Nods to the Pre-Raphaelites bring saturated color and intimate portraiture. Allusions to early Renaissance fairs emphasize communal ritual and costume as living elements. Golum frames the project as an inquiry into a woman operating outside institutional power during upheaval, a stance that the production presents as directly relevant to contemporary debates about authorship and agency.
The film premiered at the FIDMarseille and screened at festivals including the Montreal Critics’ Week. Distributor Several Futures programmed the New York engagements beginning at Anthology Film Archives on March 27. Additional dates include Nitehawk Prospect Park on April 5, Low Cinema on April 11, and runs at Roxy Cinema on April 17–19 and April 24–26. Screenings are also scheduled at Spectacle on April 24–26. Golum and invited guests are expected to attend these showings. Several Futures said further city engagements will be announced.
Early reviews emphasized the film’s formal rigor and didactic impulse. Some critics praised its classical restraint, deliberate tempo, and precise vocal delivery. Others highlighted its success in fusing historical signifiers with an unsettling modernity. Audiences should expect a contemplative, sensory work that privileges immersion over literal reconstruction.
I’ve seen too many creative projects fail to find an audience because form eclipsed feeling. Growth data tells a different story: films that balance formal ambition with emotional clarity travel further. Revelations of Divine Love positions itself as a tactile meditation on faith, authorship, and female agency. Its festival pedigree and a limited New York theatrical run frame the film as a provocation about how historical figures are reframed for contemporary screens. The distributor will announce additional engagements in due course.