Popular culture's depictions of nuns have ranged from the lighthearted (The Flying Nun) to the serious (Doubt) to the grim (The Devils). Maggie Betts's "Novitiate" falls in the middle. Basically, it makes nunhood look like torture. And as is always the case in depictions of nuns, mother superior makes people feel as if they're walking on eggshells.
Like many of these movies, it deals with the protagonist's questioning of her own faith (and in this case Vatican II influences her decision). Seeing the regimens to which mother superior subjects the postulants, it's no wonder you see almost no women becoming nuns anymore.
It's an OK movie - better than any of Terrence Malick's recent work - but it could've been a clearer one.
Like many of these movies, it deals with the protagonist's questioning of her own faith (and in this case Vatican II influences her decision). Seeing the regimens to which mother superior subjects the postulants, it's no wonder you see almost no women becoming nuns anymore.
It's an OK movie - better than any of Terrence Malick's recent work - but it could've been a clearer one.