The main character in the movie A Step Behind the Seraphim is Gabriel, an adolescent student of an Orthodox college. His parents bring him to the seminary. The action follows the evolution of the adolescent from his arrival at the seminary. It presents the process of his adaptation to the semi-military environment from there.

    He must also adapt to the heterogeneous collective and the abusive rules imposed by Father Ivan, a character excellently played by Vlad Ivanov. The students are caught in a battle between an abusive but honest priest and a dishonest but clever church teacher. To survive in the seminary, they must learn to lie, steal, manipulate, and betray.

    A story about maturing in a strict, unjust and even abusive regime. A successful drama with an inspired cast, a high-profile acting game that does not lack tense situations, chosen inspired music and even humor.

    The last sequence of the movie, using real footage filmed while the director Daniel Sandu was at a theological seminar, will show the audience how well the director captured reality in the script.

The film’s main message seems to be that if abuses continue to happen in different environments, and they probably will, your response will depend on how weak or educated you are. It is a life lesson that teaches us the courage to face injustice, not necessarily recklessly and unplanned, but rather intelligently and systematically, to the extent our inner value allows.

The original title in romanian is “Un pas în urma serafimilor”.

You can watch the movie online on the Amazon Prime Video streaming platform.

One Step Behind the Seraphim trailer :