What ultimately saves Novitiate from its own self-inflicted wounds is the character of Reverend Mother and Melissa Leo’s performance.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 30, 2024

Tackling such heady (and polarizing) subjects, such as religion and puberty in the same movie, is a daunting and unenviable task. It’s the cinematic equivalent of sitting on a dry powder keg located next to a raging bonfire.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Jan 7, 2024

Writer/director Margaret Betts' fine first feature pulls back the veil on the cloistered lives of nuns and novitiates who enter the convent to devote themselves to Christ.

| Nov 4, 2021

Director Margaret Betts offers a beautifully-shot, thoughtful drama, filled with some fine acting, particularly by Melissa Leo.

| Nov 4, 2021

Superior performances by Melissa Leo and newcomer Margaret Qualley bring Margaret Betts' convent drama Novitiate into sharp, aching focus.

| Nov 4, 2021

Maggie Betts' first feature is remarkably assured, bringing us into a hidden world filled with complex characters struggling with issues of faith, identity, and change.

| Nov 4, 2021

It's in the telling of a story that has always been there to be told, but has been all but ignored for far too long.

| Nov 4, 2021

As the postulants, novitiates, and nuns wrestle with everything from the strict daily routine to questions about their sexuality and doubts about their faith and purpose, Betts captures it all with a sure hand.

| Nov 4, 2021

An artistic drama with compelling performances, the film nonetheless reveals its creator's lack of familiarity with Catholicism and ultimately takes a stand viewers of faith are bound to reject...

| Aug 12, 2021

A true ensemble piece of sacred cinema.

| Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 18, 2020

Veteran character actress Melissa Leo steals every scene she's in.

| Jun 3, 2020

Novitiate is filled with wonderful young actresses who are given the chance to create complex and complicated characters, with unique issues and personalities.

| May 19, 2020

One wishes Novitiate had tackled the matter head on as opposed to through low-impact drama...

| Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 5, 2020

Betts' achievement resembles the melodramatic textures of the iconic Audrey Hepburn vehicle A Nun's Story (which gets a textual reference) mixed with a (slight) dash of Madchen in Uniform sexual repression.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 10, 2019

Novitiate, the feature-length debut of Sundance Film Festival's Breakthrough Director winner, Maggie Betts, is a stylish and ambitious take on a historical moment in the transformation of Catholicism.

| Jul 29, 2019

Leo and Qualley shine during a dim view of the "Novitiate".

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 8, 2019

Unfortunately, the film often takes too many narrative shortcuts, leaving thematic avenues unexplored with weak character development

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 4, 2019

That succeeds best when it focuses on the spiritual journey of its young protagonist. But what might make it most interesting to watch is Melissa Leo's fiery performance as the brittle Reverend Mother.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 26, 2019

People of faith might be disappointed in the film's ending but overall, and despite the Catholic church being absent in the credits, Betts has crafted a respectful examination of faith, devotion and doubt...

| Original Score: 7/10 | Apr 16, 2019

A powerful, if imprecise, look at religious faith.

| Jan 19, 2019