The Holy Inquisition Synopsis

In the XVIII century in northeast of Brazil, a beautiful young woman, Branca Dias, saves Bernardo, a Catholic priest, from drowning in a river. Nurturing a deep attraction to her, Bernardo believes that it is his mission to save Branca’s soul in return and becomes her confessor. Day by day Branca naively reveals to him private aspects of her life as well as her unconventional way of believing in God, while Bernardo, in turn, fights his own temptations of the flesh.

Foreseeing the danger that the Inquisition represents to them, New-Christians of Jewish ancestry, the maiden’s father Simao adverts Branca of her recently found confessor and devoted friend. She dismisses her father’s worries swearing that the priest is only trying to protect her, nothing more.

That also disturbs Branca’s suitor, Augusto, a devoted fiancée with a very liberal philosophy of religion and society that anxiously longs for their wedding date. He shares with Branca his concern about her frequent meetings with a priest who isn’t trustworthy. Finally, Branca starts to withdraw from Bernardo, who resents her behavior.

A visit of the Holy Office Court to town though, gives Bernardo the opportunity to pressure Branca, the source of his sins, into confessing, according to his view, her misguided and dangerous notion of God and Church. At the Inquisitor’s court, he anxiously awaits her presence but she does not show up since she honestly believes she  has not done anything wrong.

Next day,  Inquisition officials knock at the door of Simao and Branca’s house. She had been anonymously denounced as a heretic. They are briefly questioned and after a summary search, books given to her by Augusto are produced as proof of heresy. Father and daughter are left in shock, devastated and confused.

Branca runs to the monastery and confronts Bernardo who denies being the anonymous denouncer. However he stands still as the Inquisition guards show up to arrest her. Helpless, Branca is dragged through the dungeon doors of the crypt.

To Branca’s despair, her father and her affianced Augusto are also imprisoned. Augusto is even submitted to torture to testify against her.

Having the disturbed Bernardo as her accuser in front of the relentless Holy Inquisition court, Branca seems to have only one option now: To give up on her resistance and confess her alleged sins in order to save her life and the life of her loved ones.