Novitiate
Spanning over a decade from the early 1950s through to the mid-60s, NOVITIATE is about a young girl's first initiation with love, in this case with God. Raised by a non-religious, single mother in rural Tennessee, a scholarship to Catholic school soon finds Cathleen drawn into the mystery and romanticism of a life devoted to the worship and servitude of God. With the dawn of the Vatican II era, radical changes in the Church are threatening the course of nuns' lives. As she progresses from the postulant to the novitiate stage of training, she finds her faith repeatedly confronted and challenged by the harsh, often inhumane realities of being a servant of God. Cathleen finds herself struggling with issues of faith, sexuality, and recent changes in life of the Church.
17 January 1962, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
1 July 1971, Medford, Massachusetts, USA
8 December 2002, Searcy, Arkansas, USA
4 January 1995, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
November 29, 2017
Questions of faith and devotion are explored with sensitivity and grace in Novitiate, a quietly moving drama about nuns on the cusp of great change.
November 16, 2017
Most films, especially mainstream ones, are about the forces that whirl around characters. "Novitiate" grapples with what's going on inside them.
November 09, 2017
The film raises interesting questions, but the answers remain elusive, and whether that makes for a compelling cinematic experience is entirely in the eye of the beholder.
November 27, 2017
"Novitiate" is a thoughtful and sincere rendering of the devout religious caught up in the changing times of modern society.
December 08, 2017
Novitiate is a rare film about religion that neither bludgeons a viewer into accepting an ideology nor treats believers as misguided simpletons.
November 16, 2017
"Novitiate" is challenging, uncomfortable, violent, simple in its message about transformative mind control imposed on youth, superbly acted and technically flawless.
November 15, 2017
In Leo, it presents a remarkable portrait of a complex woman struggling with forces beyond her control.
December 05, 2017
There's a terrific ensemble cast and strong period piece work (especially costume work of the wedding dresses representing marriage to God) at play in Novitiate
November 25, 2017
A quiet and methodical narrative, "Novitiate" requires patience, but the reward is great.
November 09, 2017
There are times when Novitiate tests the viewer's endurance - it's a beautifully shot movie, but it runs more than two hours, and lingering compositions of silent nuns and novitiates start to feel unsupported by the story.
November 26, 2017
First-time writer/director Maggie Betts mostly manages to involve viewers in exploring why young ladies actually might want to take the spiritual plunge.
November 10, 2017
[Reverend Mother Leo's] countenance alternates between a stony smile and a twisted snarl, except for the moments when the changes wrought by Vatican II threaten to loosen her iron grip over her young charges. Then she simply goes to pieces.
