Returning to Italy after ten years in Switzerland, a teenager registers for catechism classes.

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At 13, it's hard for Marta to reclaim her southern Italian roots with her mother and sister after spending 10 years growing up in Switzerland. Registering for catechism seems like a good way to make friends, but the church doesn't really know how to deal with teens, despite a neon crucifix and a parishioner who teaches the story of Jesus with a quiz on a big-screen TV. During her classes, Marta is constantly confronted with the limitations of the scripture in relation to popular beliefs and her own conscience...

Very nice portrayal that is often tantamount to a documentary on the generation gap. The local Catholic community tries desperately to hold back time by teaching old fashioned church morals, all the while forgetting to follow the religious principles they have learned by heart. Alice Rohrwacher's film is also a portrait of a teen who, like a snake, sheds her skin on her way along the stations of the cross set by those around her. Whether hidden under plastic tarps during a procession in the rain or strung along the roof rack of the car, what gets done with religious relics in this film will make you want to smile... or remove the crucifix from the wall.