Black Robe

Black Robe is currently streaming in Australia on Foxtel Now and MUBI, and in the US on Amazon Prime Video and Kanopy, and it earns its set pieces rather than just delivering them. The length is exactly right for the story it is telling — nothing rushed, nothing dragged out. With 125 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Lothaire Bluteau anchors the chaos with real screen presence. Start it on Foxtel Now whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

Whatever else is competing for your attention this week, Black Robe is worth clearing space for. The set pieces are impressive, but it is the story underneath them that gives Black Robe its staying power. Missionary Father LaForgue travels to the New World in hopes of converting Algonquin Indians to Catholicism. Accepted, though warily, by the Indians, LaForgue travels with the Indians using his strict Catholic rules and ideals to try and impose his religion. Lothaire Bluteau and Sandrine Holt lead a cast that keeps the chaos grounded in who's actually at stake. It hit screens in 1991. The geography of every set piece in Black Robe is legible, which is rarer in the genre than it should be. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Action fans who want craft and story alongside the spectacle will find exactly that in Black Robe. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Lothaire Bluteau anchors the chaos with real screen presence. Every set piece here is doing more than one job at once.

Black Robe was released in 1991, directed by Bruce Beresford. The full 101-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.