The Second Coming in the Wicked House: Pablo Larraín’s "El Club" (2015)

Abstract

The article explores the 2015 Chilean drama film El Club, director Pablo Larraín’s investigation of the efforts undertaken by the Roman Catholic Church to conceal the abuses and crimes perpetrated by its officials. It also interrogates the sociopolitical context of the production, defined by the culture of impunity cultivated by Chile’s conservative establishment. The text presents an in-depth examination of the film’s plot, conceived as the primary conduit for meaning, and emphasizes the picture’s artistic dimension. It also offers an interpretation of the film that sees it as a manifestation of Pope Francis’ appeal to see Christ in the faces of the victims of the clergy’s sexual transgressions. Ultimately, the film harmonizes with the choir of voices which demand reexamination of the modern Catholic praxis, including the misuse of sacraments such as confession and absolution and, more generally, the virtue of mercy.