NOVITIATE

Drawn in by the prospect of a higher calling despite her non-religious upbringing, Cathleen (Margaret Qualley), a teenager growing up in the early 1960s, soon finds herself among a group of young women who have devoted themselves to a training program within The Sisters of Blessed Rose convent. While their earnest devotion is quickly contrasted with the harsh realities of religious life, the sudden announcement of Pope John XXIII’s Second Vatican Council provides a new question for both the students and their Mother Superior (Academy Award® winner Melissa Leo): whether to transform along with the church’s plans of liberal reform or adhere to the strict principles that first compelled them into the convent.