Doubt"" is a film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name written and directed by author John Patrick Shanley. A deeply psychological fictional drama, its main driving force is the intricately-layered bouts of dialogue between the main characters. Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn, played by Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman, respectively, engage in tense verbal exchanges that conceal an underlying web of unspoken controversy. As the title suggests, the film is a dissection of human suspicion, our internal compass that wavers between doubt and certainty.
Among ""Doubt's"" major questions are these: On what do we base our judgments? How much evidence do we require to hold on to our convictions? Does certainty and therefore faith have anything to do with truth? The film is an experiment that pits vastly differing worldviews against each other in the airtight, oppressively rendered in the setting of The Bronx's St. Nicholas Catholic parish in 1964. Sister Aloysius, incited by the concerned observations of eighth-grade teacher Sister James (Amy Adams) that Father Flynn was paying ""too much attention"" to young African-American student Donald Muller, embarks on a relentless crusade to expose him.
The ambiguity of the situation, as the alleged sexual misconduct is not shown on screen, never confirmed or denied outright, creates a maddeningly ambivalent perspective. The audience is left helpless as to whom or even what to place their faith in. Yet, what makes the movie so much more than a suspense drama lies in the fact that whether Father Flynn is guilty does not matter. The mystery is simply a catalyst for psychological drama as the play ponders the different ways people deal with uncertainty, how we foster our moral beliefs and worldviews against a deeply inconsistent, muddled world.
Each of the main characters embodies a disparate attitude and belief system. Father Flynn strives for a more emotionally-open community, while Sister Aloysius is the epitome of a strict, terrifying schoolmistress who adheres to principles and spares no sympathy or compassion in her persecution of those she regards as corrupt. Sister James, the onlooker, represents those who rely on simplicity and cannot acknowledge the gravity of the problem.
The complexity of the situation increases when Donald's mother is introduced, played by Viola Davis in one of the film's most intense scenes. Her reasoning for the matter to be left alone, the possibility that Donald is actually better off under Flynn's wing, adds new questions and yet another facet to the film's already diverse themes. Such ideas include, besides the question of faith, power struggles between men and women, conflict between tradition and progression and the nature of authority.
By the end of the film, after a deeply impassioned confrontation between Aloysius and Flynn, the audience is no more enlightened about the truth or the fairness of Sister Aloysius' unwavering and potentially groundless resolution to bring down the priest. We are left to reflect on the implications of Aloysius' final words and our own desire and willingness to overlook or stretch the truth for the sake of certainty. Despite the unresolved ending, the visual and thematic richness of the film, combined with Oscar-worthy performances, make ""Doubt"" an ultimately satisfying experience.
Grade: A.
