In 1860s rural Bengal, the high-caste Umaprasad (Chatterjee) goes to study in Calcutta, leaving his beautiful young bride Doyamoyee (Tagore) in the care of his widower father, Kalikinkar (Biswas). A devout practitioner of Hinduism, Kalikinar has a vivid dream that Doyamoyee is a reincarnation of the goddess Kali, and takes it as a sign. By the time Umaprasad returns home, a dangerous cycle has begun that could end in tragedy.

In “The Goddess”, legendary director Ray presents an unnerving, cautionary tale about the destructive power of fanaticism. Biswas, so memorable in Ray’s “The Music Room” two years before, turns in another bravura performance as a man whose religious fervor turns into blind obsession. Tagore is also memorable as the vulnerable young woman powerless to challenge her father-in-law’s beliefs. Shot in stark black and white and punctuated with close-ups of faces in conflict or rapture, this intense drama soon veers into the realm of psychological horror. Here’s another sadly forgotten Ray masterpiece, lovingly restored by the Criterion Collection.