Lies are not allowed here. Hanna is a member of a tightly-knit New Age Christian commune, struggling to come to terms with her past. Life on Denmark’s west coast is simple, shaped by solidarity and seemingly sheltered from the modern world. Together, the parish members revisit memories, holding mirroring sessions in an attempt to heal old traumas. “God exists within the collective consciousness,” insists the group’s charismatic leader and psychologist, Kirsten. But when Hanna’s brother Jakob joins the commune, the fragile foundations of this imagined idyll begin to fracture, as inconvenient truths rise to the surface. Memories can be deceptive, can’t they?

Through an examination of his relationship with his sister and her involvement in a religious group, Danish director Rønde has created a surgically precise and provocative portrait of faith’s place in Danish society and the taboo of familial intimacy. As the plot unfolds in the style of a cold-blooded psychological thriller, startling the audience at every turn, the director revisits themes explored in Breaking the Waves (1996) and other canonical works, where faith in the divine can shield and reconcile social contradictions. Employing a predominantly documentary style, Rønde’s film – screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam – seeks not to shock, but to trace the fine line between faith and manipulation, devotion and delusion.