A fictional story but based on a book exploring the surprisingly common multiple stories of clerical impostors in Poland, a phenomenon more prevalent than even the film-makers themselves expected. Most of Corpus Christi was shot in a remote village in the Carpathian foothills, where the crew soon began to feel that locals were a little cagey when the film's topic was broached. It was only when the shoot was over that they discovered that the village had its very own real history of a bogus priest. The impersonator had gotten away with it for two years before being rumbled.
In a couple of dance scenes the film makes a clear reference to the famous Dimitri finds out internet meme.