Messiah

Messiah follows a group of Jews in 1690 Poland who think they have found their messiah in the mysterious figure of Sabbatai Sevi. Rachel, a homely young woman, is swept up in the mass hysteria that erupts when her village, traumatized years before by marauding Cossacks, sacrifices everything in the name of this Sabbatai. As she is forced to confront her doubts and beliefs simultaneously, Rachel must ultimately choose between fantasy and reality. Based upon fact, Messiah speaks to religious fanaticism, blind faith and a community’s hysterical belief in divine salvation. David Gautschy directs.