{"id":14344,"date":"2021-07-08T18:38:33","date_gmt":"2021-07-08T22:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=14344"},"modified":"2026-09-16T14:25:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T18:25:20","slug":"in-the-name-of-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=14344","title":{"rendered":"In the Name of-2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the Name of-2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director Malgorzata Szumowska<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Andrzej Chyra<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #1,159<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed July 8, 2021<\/p>\n

Grade: B+<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the Name of (2013), not to be confused with In the Name of the Father, a 1993 film starring Daniel Day-Lewis, is a Polish independent LGBTQ+ genre film directed by a female, Malgorzata Szumowska.<\/p>\n

I point out the gender only because the subject matter skews heavily towards male homosexuality, which is an interesting one for a female to tackle.<\/p>\n

Szumowska does so with gusto, providing wonderful cinematography and quiet dialogue.<\/p>\n

She casts her husband, Mateusz Ko\u015bciukiewicz, in the central role of an outsider who stirs up the sexual feelings of a priest struggling with his long-repressed sexuality.<\/p>\n

If you look closely, each character struggles with conflict and self-acceptance in some way, restless and hungry for peace of mind and satisfaction.<\/p>\n

We wonder if any of the characters will ever find this.<\/p>\n

Andrzej Chyra plays the priest in question. It’s revealed that Adam joined the House of God at age twenty-one to escape issues he wrestled with concerning his sexuality.<\/p>\n

He has spent his life running away from his true self.<\/p>\n

Now in his forties, he leads a rural parish after being transferred from the lively city of Warsaw, and he’s still tormented by desire.<\/p>\n

To make matters even more difficult, he mentors troubled young men with lots of testosterone.<\/p>\n

When Adam attempts to help troubled teen Lukasz (Ko\u015bciukiewicz), long-suppressed feelings begin to surface as the men grow closer. A townsperson catches wind of possible shenanigans, and Adam is transferred yet again to another location.<\/p>\n

This has happened before.<\/p>\n

But will Adam and Lukasz have a chance at happiness if they play their cards right?<\/p>\n

The obvious comparison for In the Name of is Brokeback Mountain (2005), which set the standard and paved the way for many LGBTQ+ films.<\/p>\n

All of Adam’s and Lukasz’s dalliances, and their romantic suggestions, are secretive, but nothing is animalistic. Both men are repressed but are at different stages of life.<\/p>\n

I can’t say In the Name of hits the mark in this regard because the film is less about a male romance than about the characters being unhappy. It’s not until the end of the film that anything blossoms between Adam and Lukasz.<\/p>\n

I wanted more meat between the characters, pun intended, but was left knowing almost nothing about Lukasz specifically.<\/p>\n

I also yearned for more backstories from three supporting characters.<\/p>\n

Ewa (Maja Ostaszewska), an attractive local woman, flirts with Adam and the coach on occasion and drinks too much, later regretting her actions.<\/p>\n

How does she end up in town, and why is she already without a man? Is the coach gay or straight? It is suggested he is gay, but this remains unclear.<\/p>\n

Finally, Blondi is a bleached blonde troubled boy played by Tomasz Schuchardt. He beds another boy and senses Adam’s sexuality, filling Blondi with venom.<\/p>\n

I wanted to know more about Blondi.<\/p>\n

Despite these slight yearnings for more, the film is very good.<\/p>\n

Chyra does a terrific job as Adam and easily wins over the audience, who will root for his happiness. In a great scene, the typically reserved Adam explodes with self-deprecating rage during a video call with his sympathetic sister.<\/p>\n

He struggles for self-acceptance that many in the LGBTQ+ community can relate to.<\/p>\n

I sense that having seen In the Name of when it was originally released in 2013 would have made the experience even more powerful.<\/p>\n

By 2021, the cinema world has been saturated with films with similar themes and religious conflict, so it feels common and less original. I’ll never complain about too many LGBTQ+ films being made.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the film and recommend it to anyone seeking a quality character-driven experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the Name of-2013 Director Malgorzata Szumowska Starring Andrzej Chyra Scott’s Review #1,159 Reviewed July 8, 2021 Grade: B+ In the Name of (2013), not to be confused with In the Name of the Father, a 1993 film starring Daniel Day-Lewis, is a Polish independent LGBTQ+ genre film directed by a female, Malgorzata Szumowska. I … Continue reading In the Name of-2013<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,192,41,211,35,213,339,122,331,3770],"tags":[3776,12668,3775,3777],"class_list":["post-14344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2013-films","category-dramas","category-indiefilms","category-indie-dramas","category-foreignfilms","category-foreign-dramas","category-lgbt-dramas","category-gay-films","category-lgbt-foreign-language-films","category-polish","tag-andrzej-chyra","tag-maja-ostaszewska","tag-malgorzata-szumowska","tag-mateusz-kosciukiewicz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14344"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24518,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14344\/revisions\/24518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}