Gabriel’s Rapture: Part II is officially out on Passionflix now. Previously we gave you our advance spoiler-free review about the film. This time we are breaking down our favorite things about it. Be warned, this review does contain spoilers.
The Story
Gabriel’s Rapture: Part II is a continuation of the events after Julia and Gabriel have returned from their Italian getaway. The two have come home to problems that threaten to tear them apart. Paulina, Gabriel’s ex has reappeared, and Julia has her ex-Simon’s crazy girlfriend Natalie coming after her to drop the assault charges from when he attacked her on Thanksgiving. Despite all that drama, Julia and Gabriel remain true to one another. Unbeknownst to either of them, there was still yet another even bigger obstacle to contend with.
Julia’s classmate and nemesis Christa Peterson has filed a complaint about both Julia and Gabriel. Christa has accused Gabriel of sexual harassment and Julia has been accused of getting her academic standing due to being in a relationship with him. Because of the accusations brought against them, both have to appear before the academic board. Julia’s grade has been suspended and her transcript is now incomplete until the investigation is finished. The timing for Julia couldn’t be worse. She’s been accepted to Harvard but if it is determined by the board that she engaged in a sexual relationship with her professor, all of her dreams are out the window.
When Julia goes before the board, she is faced with a barrage of questions regarding her relationship with Gabriel. Julia is advised by her legal counsel Soraya to get in front of the situation before Gabriel can try and accuse her of something. Julia knows that Gabriel loves her and would never do anything to hurt her. She believes that if she goes to the board and informs them that her relationship with Gabriel was consensual and that they did not get together until after the semester was over, they can’t be accused of doing anything wrong. Any hope Julia had of doing that is dashed when Soraya reminds her that she and Gabriel were involved before then.
Julia decides to plead her case anyway to no avail. Because of Christa’s accusation that she was sexually harassed by Gabriel, the board believes the same must have happened to Julia. Though she does everything she can to convince the board that was not the case, nobody seems to be listening. They only see her as a victim despite stating time and time again that she is not. When Gabriel speaks to the academic board, he decides to sacrifice himself and his teaching career because he can’t bear to see Julia lose her hopes and dreams. What Gabriel fails to recognize is that Julia is a strong woman who knows how to make her own choices. As she said, they both knew the risks they were taking when they got together.
The problem with Gabriel is he was not communicating with Julia. Instead of really sitting down and talking about what was going on so they could be on the same page as a couple, he kept things to himself. He didn’t even want her to be in the room when he spoke to the board because he knew if Julia was there, she would have stopped him. I don’t think Gabriel was necessarily wrong for the decision to fall on his own sword, but he really should have talked to Julia. Gabriel feels he’s doing the right thing though. Because he is already established with a career and Julia is just really starting out, he realizes the impact this whole thing would have on her life is much greater.
After the hearing Gabriel in his own way attempts to let Julia know that he hasn’t left her and tries getting through to her in the best way he knows how. Unfortunately, Julia is done listening to what he has to say because his coldness at the hearing was all the answer she needed. Once again, this whole situation comes back to communication. If Gabriel had only spoken to Julia to really tell her everything she would have understood. I’m sure she would have protested but I think that communication could have saved them all the heartache.
Gabriel’s Rapture: Part II was one of the films I had been looking forward to because I remember being so invested while reading the book. I was really excited to see the hearing scenes come to life onscreen as painful as they were. I thought Tosca Musk did a great job with those moments. While I loved the film there were a few things that did throw me off a little bit.
Before you get upset over what some of my issues were, just hear me out. In Gabriel’s Rapture: Part One the film ends with the Paulina, and Natalie stuff still looming. I can basically overlook those two because it doesn’t do much to add to the story and with adaptations lots of changes are made for the sake of time. What I was confused about was the lack of scenes with Christa. I know she is not everyone’s favorite person but, with that cliffhanger I expected to see more than one scene with her in it. She pops up towards the very end of the film to antagonize Paul and tell him that Julia “fucked with the wrong girl.”
I’ll be honest, I found myself trying to think back to exactly what Julia ever did to Christa for her to hate her so much. Maybe I need to re-read my book because it’s been a while. I’m genuinely trying to remember all the interactions Julia and Christa had because there wasn’t a really specific moment that stood out to me other than their little moment at the coffee shop in Gabriel’s Inferno: Part One. I can only assume it ultimately boils down to Christa just being insanely jealous of Julia and Gabriel’s relationship. I still think it’s odd that she is not in Gabriel’s Rapture: Part II that much because in the book, she is heavily, and I mean heavily present. She literally has her own chapters where she’s plotting and scheming.
Melanie Zanetti And Giulio Berruti
I always dedicate a section to Melanie Zanetti and Giulio Berruti when I write these reviews because they are both amazing. Melanie and Giulio have continued to grow so much through each and every one of the films in the Gabriel’s Inferno film franchise. It’s crazy to think they have both been inhabiting these characters since 2020. And since that time their acting has only gotten better.
I am continuously amazed by Melanie’s performance as Julia. She brings such a soft vulnerability to her. She’s also able to bring out Julias tough side which is the one we see when she stands up for what she believes in. The way she conveys all of Julias emotions and her turmoil especially during the hearing is amazing. As I have said before, Giulio has grown a lot with his acting as well. Gabriel is not an easy guy to play. He has a lot of issues to work through and he has a lot of anger and demons in his past. Gabriel’s emotions can be all over the place and in Gabriel’s Rapture: Part II he went through a lot of them. Giulio does a wonderful job showing Gabriel’s love, and tenderness for Julia but he also did a great job of turning it off to present the air of coldness he once had during the hearing scenes.
Now to Melanie and Giulio’s chemistry. I can never say enough about how much I love watching them both together and I am not just talking about their love scenes. I mean the simple intimate moments when they just talk and share certain looks and soft touches of skin. It just feels so natural, and nothing ever looks forced at all. The love scenes are always shot so beautifully but my personal favorite is Julia and Gabriel’s moment together before he shows up at the hearing the next day. I could literally feel Gabriel’s desperation and how much he was hurting because he knew that was going to be the last time he saw Julia for a while. I remember feeling that same emotion when I read that scene in the book and both Melanie and Giulio nailed it.
Regardless of the things that I mentioned, Gabriel’s Rapture: Part II was still a very good film. It’s a love story that will have you wondering what you would sacrifice for love. Julia and Gabriel definitely sacrifice a lot to be together. Tosca Musk really has done such an incredible job of bringing this installment to life and the entire series of films she’s done for this franchise thus far. I am looking forward to seeing the next film as well as what else is still to come for Julia and Gabriel.
Other Thoughts
- The film score is amazing and added so much more to all of Melanie and Giulio’s scenes.
- I loved the scenes of Julia and Gabriel in therapy. Those were so important to show.
- The Belize trip. That is all.
- The conversation Julia and Gabriel have about her not having an orgasm after the hot tub scene was one of my favorites. Like I said there are so many things we don’t often see couples talk about when it comes to sex so I really appreciated that moment.
- “I feel like I’m finally putting the pieces back together.” Man was that some MAJOR foreshadowing.
- Loved the flashback scenes when Julia is talking to Soraya about her time with Gabriel.
- “I don’t care about my PHD or Harvard.” GIRRRRRL!!!
- “I am talking to you. You’re not listening.” YES, GIULIO PERFECT LINE DELIVERY!
- Can we talk about how badass Sahar Bibiyan is as Julia’s legal counsel?
- “You’re supposed to support me when I decide to stand up for myself.” Yes, Julia you tell Gabriel girl!
- There was a lot of purple used in this film and I feel like there’s something significant about that, but I can’t figure out what that is.
