convent’s coffers.

Coninx’ Sister Smile, co-written by Ariane Fert and Chris Vander Stappen, charts this meteoric rise and the catastrophic collapse that followed. Frustrated by convent life, de France’s Deckers leaves it all behind once more, moving in with childhood friend Annie Pécher, 11 years her junior, played by Sandrine Blancke. Though Pécher quickly became infatuated with Deckers, the older woman remained true to her vow of chastity and ill at ease with her emerging sexuality for many years before the pair eventually became lovers. Blancke adeptly conveys a bristling sense of injustice at this resistance.

Attempting to resuscitate her musical career, first Deckers was barred from using her famous pseudonym by the convent and then abandoned by the recording company and several concert venues after she released a controversialsong defending contraception, ‘Glory be to God for the Golden Pill’, which also had the unfortunate effect of large swathes of her remaining, deeply religious fans turning their backs.

Excessive drinking and a drug problem ensued, exacerbated by a huge bill for back taxes on royalties lodged by the Belgian government, despite the fact she had never seen a penny for her massively successful one-hit wonder. Facing destitution and possible imprisonment, tragically, Deckers and Pécher took their own lives in 1985.

If Coninx, who recalls having ‘Dominique’ stuck in his head as a six-year-old, puts a slightly soft spin on the finale, de France is a towering presence that honours a fascinatingly conflicted Deckers, far more complex than the sweet-natured nun portrayed by Reynolds, with the film all the better