Directed by John Patrick Stanley
Doubt casts a continual shadow as the audience is drawn into the story of two nuns and a priest. Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep) is the strict principal of St Nicolas, a church school in the Bronx. Protective of her charges, she believes in strong discipline. She rules by fear and Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is her polar opposite, using his weekly sermons to preach change and growth. It is 1964 and change is sweeping through the community. Kennedy has just been assassinated, the civil rights movement is gathering strength and the Catholic Church is beginning reforms to be more diverse and accessible. Indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller (Joseph Foster).
When the young teacher Sister James (Amy Adams) notices that Father Flynn is paying a considerable amount of attention to Donald, she notifies Sister Aloysius. Sister James then has to witness the monumental battle of wills that ensures between the shrewd principal and the indignant priest, played out by two most accomplished actors. Because of the power gap between the priest, who is bestowed authority by the church, and the nun, Sister Aloysius has to resort to more subtle ways to get what she wants. As the gladiatorial battle rages, assumptions are thrown back and forth from a kaleidoscope of perspectives, and the audience is forced to confront their core beliefs and moral judgements.
The film never takes sides and rather than leaving the audience with any answers, it poses many more questions. Writer/director John Patrick Stanley has done a remarkable job at capturing the mechanism of doubt. As he says, ‘The sense of doubt belongs to the audience. I’m not going to tell them what’s right or wrong. I want simply to make them think and feel something.’
Lezly Herbert
