What if God lived in Brussels and spent his days tormenting humanity for fun?
In short: In Jaco Van Dormael's 2015 dark comedy, the Almighty is a petty, abusive sadist residing in a mundane apartment. When his young daughter Ea discovers he is manipulating human suffering through a computer, she rebels, leaks everyone's death dates, and recruits six new apostles to rewrite the human story.
The Brand New Testament presents a surreal, satirical reimagining of divinity. God, portrayed as a grumpy tyrant, manages the world from a home office, using a database to orchestrate misery. His daughter, Ea, escapes this domestic prison by hacking into his system and sending every human a text message revealing their exact moment of expiration. This act of digital liberation strips the creator of his power, forcing him to experience the very frustrations he once imposed on his creations.
Ea’s quest to assemble a new testament involves six diverse individuals, each struggling with their own existential crises. From a woman mourning a lost limb to a man obsessed with death and a boy choosing to spend his final days living as a girl, these apostles narrate their lives to a homeless scribe named Victor. Their stories are marked by absurd, often whimsical interventions—such as a woman finding love with a gorilla or a man conversing with birds—that challenge the predetermined misery God had programmed into their lives.
The film’s climax shifts the narrative toward a cosmic reset. As God finds himself trapped on Earth, eventually relegated to a factory job in Uzbekistan, his wife takes control of the divine computer. She resets the world, overwriting the scheduled deaths and transforming the atmosphere into a flower-filled landscape. The resulting book, written by Victor, becomes a global success, proving that even in a world governed by a sadistic deity, human narratives can be reclaimed and rewritten with hope.
Released in 2015, this Belgian, French, and Luxembourgish co-production earned significant critical acclaim, holding an 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While it was the Belgian selection for the 88th Academy Awards and reached the shortlist of nine contenders, it did not secure a final nomination. Nevertheless, it triumphed at the 6th Magritte Awards, winning four categories including Best Film and Best Director, cementing its status as a cult classic of modern European cinema.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: The Brand New Testament
- Also: Wikidata — The Brand New Testament · CC0
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