NOVITIATE SPEC D: Maggie Betts. U.S. 118 min. Sep 10, 5:45 pm, Scotiabank 1 Sep 12, 4 pm, Scotiabank 12. Rating: NN
Aspiring nuns, including Cathleen (Margaret Qualley), train rigorously in this religious procedural set in 1964 Tennessee.
The film’s promise lies in its exploration of young girls’ relationship with Jesus, which differs only slightly from a teen’s first crush. But Melissa Leo is over-the-top, often ludicrous, as the Reverend Mother, who terrorizes her charges while resisting the reforms of Vatican II.
Though it’s shot beautifully, Novitiate’s pacing, focusing on the sisters’ daily routines, is slow. Thank the lord for Julianne Nicholson as Cathleen’s distraught mother, whose few scenes energize the pic.
Weirdly, the script suggests that Vatican II, by reducing the status of nuns, was a patriarchal ploy. In reality, the papal edicts freed nuns to do important political work outside their convent prison.