# By the Grace of God
**By the Grace of God** (*Grâce à Dieu*) is a 2019 French drama film written and directed by [François Ozon](https://www.edgepedia.org/francois-ozon), based on the case of Bernard Preynat, a Catholic priest in Lyon accused of sexually abusing boy scouts in the 1980s and 1990s, and on the survivors' group that brought the abusers to account[1](https://www.unifrance.org/film/45614/grace-a-dieu) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/23/film-about-clerical-child-abuse-opens-in-french-cinemas). It follows three men in their 40s, Alexandre, François, and Emmanuel, who were abused as children and join forces to "lift the burden of silence" and seek justice from the Church hierarchy[3](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/364288/). The film won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize at the 69th [Berlin International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/berlin-international-film-festival)[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8095860/awards/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Original title / director | *Grâce à Dieu*, written and directed by François Ozon; France/Belgium co-production, 137 minutes[1](https://www.unifrance.org/film/45614/grace-a-dieu) • [3](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/364288/) |
| Real-world basis | The case of Fr. Bernard Preynat of the diocese of Lyon and the survivors' association La Parole Libérée, which gathered testimonies from 85 people[2](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/23/film-about-clerical-child-abuse-opens-in-french-cinemas) |
| Main cast | Melvil Poupaud (Alexandre), Denis Ménochet (François), Swann Arlaud (Emmanuel), with François Marthouret as Cardinal Barbarin and Bernard Verley as Preynat[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/by_the_grace_of_god_2019) • [6](https://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/films/by-the-grace-of-god/) |
| Top award | Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize, 69th Berlin International Film Festival, 2019[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8095860/awards/) |
| Release | France 20 February 2019; United States limited release 18 October 2019[1](https://www.unifrance.org/film/45614/grace-a-dieu) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/by_the_grace_of_god_2019) |
| Budget and gross | €6,000,000 budget; worldwide gross $7,755,652, of which $66.3K in the United States[7](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/movies/8355437/) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/by_the_grace_of_god_2019) |
| Reception | 96% Tomatometer from 97 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes; 7.2/10 on IMDb[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/by_the_grace_of_god_2019) • [7](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/movies/8355437/) |
## Spoilers
### Story and real-world basis
The film opens with Alexandre (Melvil Poupaud), a practicing Catholic family man in Lyon, who discovers during a Sunday mass that the priest who abused him in the scouts still works with children. He first asks the archbishop to act; when the Church fails to sanction the priest, he files a police complaint[6](https://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/films/by-the-grace-of-god/) • [8](https://repertoire.cinema.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/film/grace-a-dieu-416121/). His deposition leads investigators to François (Denis Ménochet), whose parents had denounced the same priest in the early 1990s. François, with Alexandre's help, founds the association La Parole Libérée ("Liberated Speech"), and Emmanuel (Swann Arlaud), still damaged by his abuse, joins them[8](https://repertoire.cinema.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/film/grace-a-dieu-416121/).
The characters are semi-fictionalized versions of real members of the survivors' group, which had gathered the testimonies of 85 people who say they were abused by Preynat in Lyon[2](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/23/film-about-clerical-child-abuse-opens-in-french-cinemas). The film's antagonist in the hierarchy is Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, who was tried with five members of his diocese on charges of covering up and failing to report the abuse; the film reached French cinemas just as judges were preparing the verdict in that first trial related to the scandal[2](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/23/film-about-clerical-child-abuse-opens-in-french-cinemas).
## The title
The title comes from a 2016 press conference in which Barbarin, responding to a question about why he had allowed Preynat to remain in contact with children, gave thanks to God that the alleged abuse dated back too far to be brought to court. The phrase became so well known in Lyon that Ozon used the fake working title "Alexandre" while shooting in secret[2](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/23/film-about-clerical-child-abuse-opens-in-french-cinemas) • [9](https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/telling-the-story-francois-ozon-on-by-the-grace-of-the-god).
## Production
Ozon had first considered treating the Preynat affair as a documentary before deciding on fiction[10](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D263132.html). He described the film as made "in the spirit of [Spotlight](https://www.edgepedia.org/spotlight-film)", Tom McCarthy's 2015 film about the Boston Globe's investigation of clerical abuse, though his subject is not an investigation but a grassroots campaign by victims seeking action from the archbishop[6](https://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/films/by-the-grace-of-god/) • [11](https://www.ncregister.com/features/sdg-reviews-by-the-grace-of-god).
Secrecy shaped the shoot, which ran from 12 February to 7 April 2018 in Paris, the [Île-de-France](https://www.edgepedia.org/ile-de-france), and Belgium[12](https://scriptoclap.fr/oeuvres/alexandre/). Media were told only that Ozon was working on a project about "three childhood friends who meet again in their 40s", and all interior church scenes were shot in Belgium and [Luxembourg](https://www.edgepedia.org/luxembourg) so that Ozon would not have to ask Barbarin's permission to film in Lyon. Funding was difficult to secure because of the subject matter[2](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/23/film-about-clerical-child-abuse-opens-in-french-cinemas). The production received CNC advance-on-receipts support and a €360,000 production grant from the Île-de-France region[12](https://scriptoclap.fr/oeuvres/alexandre/).
Preynat, named in the film, filed an urgent application before the Paris administrative court to have the release date postponed, citing the presumption of innocence[13](https://www.cnc.fr/cinema/actualites/pourquoi-francois-ozon-a-choisi-daborder-un-sujet-dactualite-pour--grace-a-dieu_939659).
## Reception and awards
At the 69th Berlin International Film Festival the film competed for the [Golden Bear](https://www.edgepedia.org/golden-bear) and won the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8095860/awards/). At the 2020 [César Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/cesar-awards) it received nominations for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor (Melvil Poupaud), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8095860/awards/).
Critics noted the departure from Ozon's usual style. The Independent Cinema Office described the film as lacking the director's usual stylistic flourishes, tonal shifts, and sly humor, calling it an ambitious, sober true story[6](https://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/films/by-the-grace-of-god/). On Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 96% Tomatometer from 97 reviews, with a critics consensus calling it "patient in its approach yet stirring in its conviction"[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/by_the_grace_of_god_2019). Swedish critics grouped by Kritikerne gave it scores mostly around 4 of 5, with Fredrik Sahlin of SVT writing that it is "a film that wants to shed light, not drag things through the mud"[14](https://kritikerne.no/film/by-the-grace-of-god).
## Release and commercial performance
The film was released in France and Switzerland on 20 February 2019, followed by Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain in April 2019[3](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/364288/). It opened in the United States in limited release on 18 October 2019 through Music Box Films, grossing $66.3K there[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/by_the_grace_of_god_2019). Against a budget of €6,000,000 it earned $7,755,652 worldwide[7](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/movies/8355437/).
## References
1. [Grâce à Dieu de François Ozon (2018), Unifrance](https://www.unifrance.org/film/45614/grace-a-dieu)
2. [Film about clerical child abuse opens in French cinemas, The Guardian (23 February 2019)](https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/23/film-about-clerical-child-abuse-opens-in-french-cinemas)
3. [Grâce à Dieu, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/fr/film/364288/)
4. [By the Grace of God – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8095860/awards/)
5. [By the Grace of God, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/by_the_grace_of_god_2019)
6. [By the Grace of God (Grâce à Dieu), Independent Cinema Office](https://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/films/by-the-grace-of-god/)
7. [By the Grace of God 2019, Kinoafisha](https://www.kinoafisha.info/en/movies/8355437/)
8. [Grâce à Dieu, Répertoire des films classés, Québec](https://repertoire.cinema.mcc.gouv.qc.ca/film/grace-a-dieu-416121/)
9. [Telling the Story: François Ozon on By the Grace of God, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/telling-the-story-francois-ozon-on-by-the-grace-of-the-god)
10. [Grâce à Dieu – Film 2019, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_gen_cfilm%3D263132.html)
11. [SDG Reviews 'By the Grace of God', National Catholic Register](https://www.ncregister.com/features/sdg-reviews-by-the-grace-of-god)
12. [Grâce à Dieu (ex Alexandre), Scriptoclap](https://scriptoclap.fr/oeuvres/alexandre/)
13. [Pourquoi François Ozon a choisi d'aborder un sujet d'actualité pour « Grâce à Dieu », CNC](https://www.cnc.fr/cinema/actualites/pourquoi-francois-ozon-a-choisi-daborder-un-sujet-dactualite-pour--grace-a-dieu_939659)
14. [By the Grace of God (2018): 9 anmeldelser, Kritikerne](https://kritikerne.no/film/by-the-grace-of-god)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2015 to 2019 › Drama films 2019*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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