Novitiate (2017)

Some of you may roll your eyes seeing the movie poster and I can't blame you. I would too :) The truth is, the topic of the movie is far from what I usually prefer as you have to be in the mood for this to watch it, but I suppose I was too tired to watch what I usually do and opted for this movie. After watching it, I can say I don't regret it at all. On the contrary, I'm glad I did.

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My Religious Background And My Believes

This has nothing to do with the movie, but it's important to note a few things for you to understand my review. I'm a member of the reformed christian church, have been baptized, did the confirmation when I was a teenager, go to church from time and I believe in what the church is teaching. I mean the good things, like don't lie, don't steal, help others, be good etc. I think one can be a good person without going to church and vice versa, meaning going to church does not make you a good person. Also there's a huge difference between my reformed Christianity and catholic religion. There are no nuns in my religion, just to name one.

The Plot

Set in the early 1960s and during the era of Vatican II, a young woman in training to become a nun struggles with issues of faith, the changing church and sexuality. source

Vatican II may not mean much or anything at all to those not familiar with the catholic religion's history. You can read more about the Second Vatican Council here and let's just say for now that the Second Vatican Council's teaching is contained in sixteen documents.

The aim of the documents was a broad relaxation of the Church with an eye towards projecting a more open and welcoming image. [From the movie]

As the plot says, what you see took place before the Second Vatican Council, before the changes were implemented.

Without wanting to create a spoiler, let me tell you a few words about what happens in the movie. Cathleen goes to Catholic school out of necessity rather than out of conviction. The church offers her full scholarship in a very tough period of their life. After a good few years, at 17, she fell in love with God and decided to become a non.

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Sister Cathleen (Margaret Qualley) joins the convent, marries God and her journey begins, along with the other teenage girls that also want to become nuns.

Cast & Acting

The cast was not a decision factor when choosing to watch the movie to be honest, I had no idea who's playing, but I'd say was happy to see Julianne Nicholson, who I like. The rest of the cast I can't say I knew but was pleasantly surprised to see so many young, talented actresses interpreting such a difficult role, so well. Margaret Qualley did an excellent job interpreting the young girl who is seeking refuge in the convent, marrying God for the rest of her life.

My Opinion

As I mentioned above, I have limited knowledge about catholic religion and convent life, so I'm taking everything for granted. It doesn't say the movie is based on a true story, but I suppose what we see in the movie must be true and the need for the Second Vatican Council's document confirms it.

For me it wasn't just a movie. It was more like a documentary if I can say that, that showed me what life for nuns was before the Second Vatican Council and was shocked after the two hours ended.

First of all, allowing women to join the convent at such a young age doesn't seem like a good idea. Freshly out of school, without any life experience, one can't know if marrying God is the right decision to do.

The second thing that shocked me was that these young ladies were trained to be obedient (and please note how delicately I chose my words). The Reverend Mother acted on behalf of God (because God could not be present, obviously) and for that, she was the one everyone had to obey, blindly, without any questions.

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I'm against brainwashing. This statement may disturb some people, but we all know this is still happening even today. Making people obedient by keeping them in fear should never happen. If they are true believers, there's no need for that.

Another thing that shocked me was what nuns did, or did not do. Before going further with my review, I ran a search and turns out, there are nuns and sisters and there's a difference between the two. So before saying something stupid, I am going to limit my opinion to saying that besides loving God and obeying the rules, they should also serve the community.

Self corporal punishment should also not be a thing, but it looks like it was back in those days.

Conclusion

For me this movie was an eye opener and made me learn some new things, even though none of these things were pleasant.

Looks like the Second Vatican Council's teaching was much needed and maybe further restructuring as well, although I have no knowledge about that at this time.

In the years that followed Vatican II., the Church witnessed a mass exodus of nuns on a scale it had never seen before. 90,000 nuns renounced their vocations and left their convents. [from the movie]

Watching the movie again is out of the question, but I don't regret watching it. I've learnt something for sure.