Movie Review

Directed by John Patrick Shanley; starring Meryl Streep (Sister Aloysius Beauvier), 1 hour, 44 mins, 2008. Story of a priest suspected of pedophilia in a Roman Catholic school in The Bronx in 1964.

The film is based on the play Doubt: A Parable written by the director, John Patrick Shanley. It is a story of a priest suspected of pedophilia in a Roman Catholic school in The Bronx in 1964. Fr. Flynn has just come to the parish to which the school is attached and Sr. Aloysius, the principal, takes a deep dislike to him right off the bat. It is the time of Vatican 2 and change is in the air. In case we don’t get this there are several storms and branches lie on the ground so that we know “the winds of change are blowing!” In his first sermon Fr. Flynn preaches about doubt, that it can bring people together as much as faith. Whew!

At dinner that night Sr. Aloysius asks her fellow nuns whether any of them has observed any unusual behaviour around the school that would give Fr. Flynn cause to preach about doubt. The atmosphere is suppressed and fearful and nobody wants to venture much of an opinion but she nevertheless cautions them to keep an eye out for any such behaviour. Sr. James is a young and enthusiastic teacher who notices the closeness between Fr. Flynn and Donald Miller the school's one and only black student. He is also an altar boy. One day she receives a message for Donald to meet Fr. Flynn in the rectory. When Donald returns he is visibly upset and has the smell of alcohol on his breath. Later she observes Flynn return a T-Shirt to Donald's locker. She reveals her suspicions to Sr. Aloysius.

Under the guise of discussing the Christmas Pageant (a clip that needs to be shown at every church school teachers' pageant planning meeting!) Srs. Aloysius and James confront Fr. Flynn on the inappropriateness of his relationship with Donald. He asks them not to pursue it as it is a private matter, but he finally relents and admits that Donald had been caught drinking communion wine and that he wanted to protect the boy to allow him to remain as an acolyte. Now, he will have to dismiss Donald and he expresses his disappointment and anger at the way they have handled it. Sr. Aloysius remains unconvinced and calls a meeting with Donald's mother. Viola Davis won several awards for the scene in which she asks Sr. Aloysius to drop the matter, let Donald survive for the next few months so that he will not be further tormented by his abusive father. We get the clear sense that Mrs. Miller thinks that her son is gay but sees no harm in a compassionate male showing him some kindness and support.

Without support from Mrs. Miller and no evidence Sr. Aloysius still forces Fr. Flynn’s hand by saying that she talked with a nun from Flynn’s former parish who corroborates her suspicions. Unable to stand up to her willingness to destroy his character, Flynn resigns.

In a final scene Srs. James and Aloysius meet in the parish garden and Aloysius confesses that she lied about contacting the nun from the former parish and breaks down in tears saying, "I have such doubts!"

The script is so marvelously constructed that we do not know, in the end, whether Fr. Flynn is guilty or innocent — the victim of a witch-hunt or a typical amoral abuser. The story is not only about doubt but we are left in doubt as well. We participate in this story more than in the average mystery because it is the religious context of the story, (parish priest and nuns in a parochial school) which creates energy and anxiety. Anxiety?

Often there is an expectation that religion is in the certainty/ certitude business. It is in the world of religion that we seek answers to the existential questions of life, death, meaning, guilt and evil, the Big Questions; however, some religions and some practitioners within religious groups act as purveyors of certainty. Such a drive for certitude is an anxious and unrealistic demand that can lead to disastrous consequences. Jim Wilkes in his book "The Gift of Courage" suggests that in the face of threats to our very being (Aloysius' church and world beginning to disappear) the response of faith is not to demand certainty, perfection and security but to exhibit courage (p.30).