This 2008 movie based on an original play seems like it’s just about horrible sexual misconduct allegations that the Catholic Church is now so infamous for, but it actually ties these contextual topics in with a greater reflection on the harmfulness of certainty among the faithful. So you’ve got Philip Seymour Hoffman’s priest character who seems like he has a disturbingly inappropriate relationship with a young boy, and Meryl Streep as a nun who can’t prove that anything is actually going on but has an awful hunch and takes action accordingly.
It’s never clear to us as the audience whether the Father Flynn character is guilty of anything wrong or not, but this is what makes it so compelling. As we usually tend to treat crimes, so ought we treat matters of faith and religion. Just as we ought to have some facts on our side and some kind of concrete evidence of transgressions before punishing someone, we’re well served to be humble about spiritual questions since by their nature they can’t offer concrete evidence or anything beyond suspicions or inklings.
It’s when people are so certain of their religious convictions that they’re willing to go to extreme lengths in the name of such convictions that conflict so often arises. The movie depicts the criminal and religious aspects of this dilemma with brilliant delicacy and grace, all while slapping around fanaticism.
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