Ripstein's first period film turned back to the troubled age of the Spanish Inquisition in Mexico with a riveting drama of a family destroyed by unnerving suspicions that their deceased paterfamilias never fully recounted his Jewish origins or beliefs. Featuring Jorge Luke as the tormented son pressured to denounce his family and Claudio Brook as the Chief Inquisitor and fierce embodiment of the vengefully merciless Church, The Holy Office is a dark meditation on the treacherous power struggles that shape and reshape religious faith and family alike. The Holy Office is among the few Mexican films to examine the perilous status of the Jews in 16th century Mexico, and one of the few works to directly explore Ripstein's own Jewish heritage.