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Novitiate

Novitiate (2017)

October. 27,2017
|
6.7
|
R
| Drama

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

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Alicia
2017/10/27

I love this movie so much

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TinsHeadline
2017/10/28

Touches You

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Stometer
2017/10/29

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

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Kinley
2017/10/30

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

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sue-28521
2017/10/31

I was raised in the Catholic Church and was going to a Catholic School at the time of Vatican II and lived through the Vatican II changes. Being only 12 I can distinctly remember the nuns starting to wear every day clothes. This movie is so powerful in what went on within the convents and how the nuns were demoralized by Vatican II. Totally tragic in my eyes.

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gbkmmaurstad
2017/11/01

Several story lines, but the main story is that of Cathleen Harris (Margaret Qualley) growing up in rural Tennessee during the 1950's who decides at the age of 17 she wants to become a nun. She grows up in a single parent home, her parents divorced due her father's drinking and abusive behavior. Cathleen's mother Nora (Julianne Nicholson) works in a factory and makes no excuses for the men she shares her bed with.On a whim Nora takes Cathleen to the local Catholic church, her mother is not religious in the least, but thinks Cathleen should at least have some exposure to church. Cathleen is immediately in awe of the church and it's teachings. When the opportunity to attend a Catholic school comes up, her mother is hesitant, but agrees to let her attend when she is told there are full scholarships available. Cathleen is a quiet, shy girl and makes few friends in the years that she attends. She immerses herself in her studies and her faith. When Cathleen announces to her mother she is entering the convent to become a nun her mother is aghast and begins to think Cathleen has lost her mind. Cathleen listens to her mother's rants, does not say a word in response, and then simply walks away.Cathleen and nineteen others enter into the convent for a variety of reasons, but none as single minded as Cathleen. Just as she's entering the Sisters of the Beloved Rose convent, Vatican II (1962-1965) is underway which will forever change the Catholic church. Mother Superior (Melissa Lea) has spent forty years at the convent and believes there is no reason for the church to consider its relationship with society or other religions and continues to ignore the Vatican's new direction. She has spent her entire life within the walls of the convent and acknowledges she does not, nor does she want an identity outside of that.Cathleen undergoes emotional, mental, physical, psychological, sexual, and spiritual self examination as do all who have entered the convent. In the end, only five of the twenty will become "brides of Christ" and become nuns. Her mother can only observe from the outside her daughter's journey and hopes to reunite with her one day soon.Great movie for people who don't know much about the Catholic church and the changes they've made in attempt to be "more modern." One of the lesser know facts is over 90,000 nuns left their vocations during Vatican II due to those changes, one of which was nuns were no longer required to wear their habits. Word of caution: Not for younger viewers due to sex scenes.

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Desertman84
2017/11/02

I was really interested in Traditional Catholicism.I was lucky that I got to see this film entitled "Novitiate" to give me a better glimpse of what the Catholic Church is all about before Vatican II. Margaret Betts,who is in her directorial debut, presents to us a movie that stars Andie McDowell's daughter Margaret Qualley together with Julianne Nicholson and Melissa Leo,as the complex Reverend Mother, that tells the story of Cathleen,a young woman who obviously grew up in a broken family, that found comfort in God to meet her needs of love and decides to become a nun as well as how Pope John XXIII's Vatican II reforms severely affected the Catholic Church in both good and bad ways. While many viewers will see this as an anti-Catholic film especially people are not old enough to experience what Traditional Catholicism is all about during the 50's and the 60's when mass was said in Latin and the priest saying mass turned back to the crowd; the contributions that nuns brought to the American educational system; and how nuns truly tried to become perfect like Jesus Christ as well as how they punished themselves whenever they commit sins against God. Added to that, we also see Cathleen's transformation in life from being a little child to her journey on living the monastic life from being a postulant, a novitiate, and finally a nun. It also tells us what monastic life was all about pre-Vatican II and how the reforms somehow made the Catholic Church deteriorate as followers of Christ. No wonder that there are more than 14,000+ Protestant denominations today unlike in the past when there were probably only 1,000+. It also showed us how the reforms brought the worst on Cathleen as she struggles with these Vatican II reforms in more ways than one from her faith,the monastic life that she is accustomed too, and even in terms of her sexual desires as well as her identity as a nun as well as a Catholic.Aside from that,we are also brought to the issues of feminism especially when the Vatican II reforms were instituted as the nuns were not given any voice at all nor were asked of their opinion which was greatly characterized by the complex Reverend Mother,portrayed extremely well by Melissa Leo. At the end of the movie,we witnessed on how these reforms led to the mass exodus of 90,000 nuns from the convent. No wonder there is a shortage of both nuns and priests in the Catholic Church particularly in the United States at present. While the new Catholic Church has become open to the modern world, they definitely were hurt by these reforms as the changes brought less shepherds of Christ that led to the deterioration of Catholicism especially with less people becoming either priests or nuns.

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varityfillies
2017/11/03

Good performance all around by the cast. Rebecca and Margret have great chemistry.A big thumbs up for casting them for the particular storyline. The film is a bit slow to get to point where their characters are concerned but the point is made nonetheless. I would've liked a little more screen time for the two woman because in my view their relationship is the drawcard of the film. Ultimately the rest of the cast did a great job portraying the other issues around becoming a nun. Great film.

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