Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

It's hard to know what to make of Ulrich Siedl's 'Paradise' trilogy, a series of films about the lives of unhappy middle-aged women. 'Faith' tells the story of someone dementedly committed to spreading the love of Jesus, in a life tragically devoid of any love from other humans. Her unexplained marriage to a paralysed, Muslim man is the source of especial unhappiness, although she seeks out misery apparently believing this is what God wants of her. It's grim, and believable, but the purpose of the first two films, with their pathetic yet unsympathetic protagonists and complete lack of redemption narrative, remains unclear. Somehow I'm not expecting a song-and-dance in film three either.

This film goes right in the heart of it all in Austria and for that matter in Western Europe as well. Islam is coming and Christans are afraid! That is the real truth! Struggle of Anna Maria and Nabil is a struggle of the worlds, different continents and cultures. But it has compatibility to it. Struggle between two great religions brings them together in love-hate relationship! Who will win? People in the park! They are the only the once who understand: There is no God and only thru sexual satisfaction you can achieve happiness before inevitable end!It is also a story of foreigners coming to Austria for a better life and they do not find any! Austrians are terrified from them but can not start ovens in Aushwitz or Dachau yet. That little bit of power USA and Russia still have, prevents them from doing that.Please try to obtain this film and watch it!

Austrian screenwriter, producer and director Ulrich Seidl's fourth feature film which he co-wrote with screenwriter Veronika Franz and co-produced, is the second part of his Paradise trilogy which was preceded by "Paradise: Love" (2012) and succeeded by Paradise: Hope (2013). It premiered In competition at the 69th Venice Film Festival in 2012, was shot on location in Austria and is a Austria-Germany-France co-production which was produced by producers Philippe Bober and Christine Ruppert. It tells the story about a middle-aged Catholic missionary worker named Anna Maria who is a member of a minor group of religious adults called Legio Corbis Jesu who promises their number one man that they will make Austria Catholic. Anna Maria lives on her own, has a cat she tends to from time to time and likes to sing and play on her keyboard, but her relationship with religion which goes beyond comparison is the most important aspect of her life and after starting on her vacation she begins walking from door to door imposing her message upon whomever she meets and insisting that they join her in praying to the Virgin Mary.Distinctly and statically directed by Austrian filmmaker Ulrich Seidl, this quietly paced fictional tale which is narrated mostly from the main character's point of view, draws an exceptional and moving portrayal of an utterly devout and headstrong Austrian woman whose faith is challenged when she is reunited with her husband named Nabil. While notable for its naturalistic milieu depictions, distinct production design by production designers Andreas Donhauser and Renate Martin, cinematography by American cinematographer Edward Lachman and Austrian cinematographer Wolfgang Thaler, use of sound and use of colors, this character-driven and dialog-driven story and scrutinizing examination of religion which stands out amongst the director's three individual and connected films and which is as hilariously comical as it is seriously unsettling, depicts a heartrending and close to surreal study of character.This conversational, situational and theatrical drama which is set in Austria and where the very unorthodox relationship that the sister of the sex tourist in Kenya has with the man of her prayers is disturbed by the arrival of her spouse, is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, subtle continuity, exceedingly brilliant dialog, instrumental and vocal music and the poignant acting performances by Austrian actress Maria Hofstätter and actor Nabil Saleh. A minimalistic, dramatic, cinematic and incisive narrative feature which gained, among other awards, the Special Jury Prize Ulrich Seidl at the 69th Venice Film Festival in 2012.

We have a loser at the focus of the story and gets humiliated in a variety of different situations. These themselves were constructed to create the classical gritty art-house feel. It feels as if made my a film school graduate who got the assignment to create a collage of gritty situations related to faith. This resulted in a storyline which had no credibility. I'm surprised that this film has received awards at festivals. It was one of the most unoriginal films I've seen. This is not only related to the story but also to lighting and general feel. On a positive note the encounters she had with "real" people was well observed but were just three excellent short films. This film reminded me in many places of films made by Peter Mullen and British Social Realism which is repeated over and over again.