Thérèse is a feature film that tells the story of Thérèse de Lisieux's life and work, with Lindsay Younce in the title role.It is the first feature film for Leonardo Defilippis, an experienced actor and theatrical director.It tells the story of a young girl who fell in love with Jesus Christ and demonstrated a path of spirituality through the actions of unconditional love, human compassion, and her "Little Way" to the modern world.Thérèse Martin was born in 1873 to a working-class family in France. When she was only four years old, her mother died, sending the child into a cycle of depression. At 14, she experienced a spiritual epiphany and decided to devote her life to God as decided to become a Carmelite nun, and when she was told she was too young, she traveled to the Vatican and personally appealed to the Pope to allow her to join the order. Entering the monastery at a time when winds of intellectual and spiritual change were sweeping the world, Thérèse came to see the simple but sublime life of the nuns as an inspired path to spiritual contentment, and she wrote a powerful book about her religious awakening, The Story of a Soul. Published a year after her tragic death in 1897, Thérèse's autobiography gained widespread acclaim, and the girl known as "the Little Flower" was canonized as a saint in 1925. This is an inspiring true story is told through simple narrative which invites the audience to self-introspection.Also,it allows them to apply such spirituality in their own modern lives.That itself deserves a 10 out of 10 rating.

This movie had definite potential that really would not have been hard to fulfill, but yet it still fails. The acting was fully reprehensible. All of the actors/actresses looked almost exactly the same for every emotion. In addition to this, the delivery of their lines was off-kilter, almost robotic, although, admittedly, the fact that the dialog was stilted probably didn't help. The religious imagery was so trite and clichéd, such as the Jesus and Mary with the bright auras. This movie lacked subtlety and everything was exactly how it seemed; in other words, one never really had to think at all. This movie seemed like a "St. Terese For Dummies" manual and seemed preoccupied with everything going on around Terese instead of what was going on inside of her. In addition to this, I was not fond of the directing, and the shots to show passage of time were way too tired and over-used; here again, I point out the lack of subtlety. This movie was poor and I thought the original "St. Terese" was a lot better. This was too geared for a younger audience that really didn't like or understand it. 4/10

"Therese" is an amateurish film. Not just the acting or the dialogue, but also the make-up, hair, costumes and sets felt less like a theatrical film and more like a high school production by folks trying to present spiritual themes to an unsophisticated audience.There are many better films about religion out there. I strongly recommend "Into Great Silence," a recent documentary about Carthusian monks, "The Greatest Story Ever Told," about the life of Christ, or "Passion of the Christ" for viewers who can handle that film's violence.St. Therese de Lisieux has had a profound effect on the lives of millions, and she deserves a better movie than this. Until that movie is made, read her book, "The Story of a Soul."

Last weekend I rented this DVD from Blockbuster. I was excited because recently I made trip to Lisieux, France and rediscovered the beauty of St. Therese there. Her relics and memorial chapel were all beautiful, but it was her sweet presence being so closely felt that touched me. Something clicked deep inside me, and I become fascinated by her life and spirituality ever since. I already had DVD of French movie with same title made in 1986, which I watch with admiration for the director Alain Cavalier and actress Catharine Mouchet. It was such deeply spiritual and artistic gem, made with reverence to the solemn simplicity. So I naturally expected a little different perspective from this 2004 movie. But as I turned on the DVD player, it didn't take too long to get disappointed... as movie was dragging on, the disappointment changed into frustration- and anger. On the DVD case it says the film is being endorsed by Vatican. In terms of culture, when did Catholics become such tasteless creatures? I heard that this Luke film's work was made on donations.. what a waste. 1986's Therese has minimal set design and without any lavish costumes, and virtually no outdoor shootings, but it became a masterpiece. Comparing with it, 'low-budgeted project' cannot be an excuse to justify a less than mediocre movie. I even tried to turn on the french subtitle to desperately search for some kind of genuineness of the story...but it was no use. Actress who played Therese doesn't have any resemblance with Therese and acting was amateurish. It must be the director's fault who failed to capture and convey from the depth of little way of St. Therese. i feel insulted by the film, because I love Therese' life so much and her life was a simple but mysterious union with Jesus in midst of horrendous suffering. Her story should be honored in better work of art, in order to be correctly understood.