Gregorius, the Chosen One

Gregorius, the Chosen One (original title: Vyvolený) is a Czech-language film scheduled for release on July 4, 2026. The film is structured as a story-within-a-story: a traveling puppeteer, prompted by an audience, recounts the legend of Gregorius, a child born of an incestuous union between brother and sister. The narrative follows Gregorius through a series of trials and wanderings, among them a 17-year imprisonment bound to a rock, and touches — with apparent ambiguity — on whether the protagonist may also be a hedgehog. Despite these accumulated misfortunes, the story culminates in his election as Pope. The framing device of the puppeteer situates the film within a tradition of theatrical oral storytelling, giving the medieval legend a performative, self-aware presentation.