Novitiate

It's a testament to writer/director Margaret Betts' intelligent, detailed writing and sensitive direction (as well as to strong performances) that this film is so compelling and beautifully crafted. Novitiate, Betts' narrative feature writing/directing debut, shares a few qualities with Damien Chazelle's superb Whiplash. Both are intense dramas about aspiring young people (a jazz drummer, a nun) who cloister themselves and endure torture to become the very best they can be, under a powerful and cruel authority figure. That said, Novitiate will be a major turnoff to some: Not everyone will appreciate its no-holds-barred take on strict Catholic practices of the time. Others may shy away from the subject matter in general, especially knowing the emotional brutality of some of the novices' trials. The film doesn't shy away from serious questions about religion and the existence of the divine. But the insightful Novitiate is, as Betts puts it, ultimately about "the way women love."

It also boasts some outstanding performances. Qualley is passionate, Agron soulful, Nicholson real and raw. And Leo's portrayal of the Reverend Mother is as clear and brittle as glass. The Reverend Mother sees herself as the bulwark against the cheapening, the destruction of the Church that "progress" -- in the form of Vatican II -- will surely bring. Inside Leo's practiced soothing tones is coiled a savage cruelty, just waiting to strike. Scenes of her humiliating and crushing the spirits of her charges in the name of making them "perfect" again recall Whiplash's teacher-student dynamic. It's largely from the nuclear core of Leo's performance that Novitiate draws its undeniable intensity. As the girls/young women face their deepest fears about themselves and their beliefs, Reverend Mother uses her strength to keep the lid on the boiling pot. The moments when it finally blows are memorable indeed.