Questions of faith and devotion are explored with sensitivity and grace in “Novitiate,” a quietly moving drama about nuns on the cusp of great change.
It’s 1964, just as Pope John XXIII is implementing the reforms of the Vatican II council. One of the last places for those reforms to reach is the Sisters of the Sacred Rose, a cloistered order in the American South. The Mother Superior (Melissa Leo) drags her feet at introducing the changes of Vatican II, which she believes will destroy her order’s devotion and faith.
Mother Superior is overseeing a novitiate class, the second step toward the final vows a nun takes.