Review of Novitiate (2017) by Paul B — 13 Nov 2017

The "novitiate" was beautifully shot and well acted. It did a wonderful job of showing the passion, sincerity, and devotion of a young novitiate, while also clearly explaining to people why men and women chose and still choose this life.

But I am not giving it a strong review because of its giant flaw. The film cheapened the woman by adding sexual footage and lesbian behavior in a way that was not only gratuitous but that also denigrated the women involved.

I read many reviews that claimed this movie had something to do with feminism's effects on the church. This makes no sense. The male novitiates at monasteries chose the same harsh lives. And Vatican II offered the same challenges for them. Also, the Mother Superior was, of course, herself a woman and the only man ever seen in the movie was one who was bring reform.

To show this class of novitiates as an unusually beautiful group of women and then to have the main character shown in a lesbian sex scene cheapened her (did not "empower" her) and showed her as weaker than the rest of her character seemed to be.

Also, the character of the mother superior, a very strong performance, was over-the-top in her lack of compassion. Yes, there was sometimes what looked like abuse by the hierarchy, sometimes to help a novitiate become more humble, which is necessary to lead a God-filled life. But, these random bouts of anger and arbitrary punitive behavior could not have been anything like the norm.

In the end, the writer/ director opted for the same church-bashing that is so much in fashion these days. Why not show a novitiates life post vatican II? Why not also show the experiences of one of the many other novitiates in her class who did not give in to sexual urges while under vows?

Women and men still enter monasteries now, nearly half a century after vatican 2.