By skyforbes Although it may seem so at first, this is actually not an anti-religious film. The author of the film does not try to glorify or condemn religion. In an objective way, he approaches the subject of old vs. new, conservative vs. liberal, presenting the perspective of both sides, although to a greater extent those that are hard to shake by the new changes.
I admit that I watched the film primarily because of Margaret Qualley, who is my favorite actress. Still, she impressed me the least here, which makes sense given her inexperience.
The main star of this film as far as I'm concerned is without a doubt Melissa Leo as the Reverend Mother of the Convent. I honestly thought I was going to hate her character. I am not a supporter of conservative religious dogmas. Actually, as a liberal leftist, I am their opponent. But I felt a considerable amount of empathy and pity for her, as for a person who, against her will, has to change everything she believes in. Even in the moments when he punishes and humiliates the young women ordained, I do not see malice, but the despair and frustration of a woman whose whole world she knows is collapsing under her feet. By displaying her strong emotions, Melissa gives perhaps the best performance of her career, and the scene where she reads the letter about the reforms in front of her sisters is certainly the strongest and most moving scene of the entire movie.
Along with Melissa, I would like to give a special shout out to the talented Dianna Agron who unfortunately leaves the film too soon. But even for the little time she spends in the film, she leaves an unforgettable impression through her psychological portrait of a woman who leads an obvious internal struggle to stay in a world whose beliefs she no longer believes in and to help young girls who are on a similar path as she used to be. She is the complete antithesis of the venerable mother who is guided by strict discipline, while she strives for love and closeness. Two irreconcilable ideas that cannot exist side by side.
And the third, but not the least important actress that I would mention is Julianne Nicholson in the role of the main character's mother. She brings her daughter into contact with the church, although she is an agnostic herself and is horrified by the idea of her daughter devoting her life to a monastery, which she considers a rejection of real life. And although on the one hand it is debatable whether she can even be called a good mother when she brings various men home, on the other hand there is no doubt that she is devoted to her daughter and worried about her, especially when she starts starving herself. There is a great scene in which she confronts the venerable mother, not only because of Julianne's excellent performance, but also because of the conflict between the two mothers: one concerned about her physical and vital health, the other about her spiritual being, where the famous Christian idea that the spirit and the body oppose each other comes to the fore.
Although it is a debut production, I must say that I am quite impressed by the direction, the camera work, the minimalistic atmosphere reminiscent of Bergman's films (especially in the scenes where the girls, like a sectarian circle, confess all their sinful thoughts and weaknesses, scenes that are aesthetically powerful and at the same time painful to watch because of the psychological torture they are exposed to) and the building of relationships between the girls. The atmosphere gives a sense of closeness and sisterly feeling between them, even in difficult moments. Margaret Betts has done an outstanding job for her debut and I can't wait to see everything from her in the future.
The scene that certainly polarized the audience the most is the lesbian scene. And while for some it is a beautiful romantic moment, for others it is a forced push of the LGBTQ narrative. Personally, I think both are wrong. I don't perceive the scene primarily as romantic, nor as lesbian. I do not rule out the idea that the main character is a lesbian. But for me it's more about her striving to feel love. Throughout the film, she strives to feel the love of God. But giving is not enough for her. It is also necessary to give her love. In the newly arrived nun (who is undoubtedly a lesbian) he sees an opportunity to get, even for a moment, the closeness and love he so longs for. In the end, this is perhaps the central idea that the film deals with. The idea of the human need for love that we seek, either spiritually or physically.