Novitiate

Writer/Director Margaret Betts’ Novitiate is a poignant tale of an Order of nuns in 1964 pre and post the dictates of the Vatican II Council, which liberalized some of the operations of the Catholic Church, including the nunnery Orders.

Melissa Leo supersedes her usual excellent performances as the fundamentalist Mother Superior of the Order of Roses, who stands against any changes and runs the Order with a tyranical hand.

The film succeeds primarily because of the superior cast of relative unknowns, including Diana Agron, Rebecca Dayan, Julianne Nicholson and the three actresses who play the principal role of Sister Catherine, Margaret Qualley at age 17-19, Sasha Mason at age 12 and Eliza Stella Mason at age 7.

Betts’ script provides a clear understanding of the fervor and shocks the young novitiates had to undergo, as well as the shock of change for the older nuns.

I give Novitiate a 3.9 out of 5.