Doubt 2008

The Story
Set in the 1960s, Doubt takes place in a private Catholic school where Sister Aloysius (Streep) rules the roost with an iron fist. She's got a reputation as the dragon lady of the school, and it's a reputation she not only deserves but claims with pride. On the opposite end of the mean scale rests Father Brendan (Hoffman), a jovial priest the kids love and respect. Planted somewhere in the middle is the young, impressionable Sister James (Amy Adams) who seems truly dedicated to her young charges and almost in awe of the elder Sister Aloysius.


Aloysius doesn't appreciate women being considered second class citizens in the Catholic Church. She's frustrated and powerless to do anything to change the pecking order and it's the happy go lucky Father Brendan who becomes the target of her ire. Sister Aloysius charges Sister James with keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary involving Father Brendan, and it's not long before Sister James does in fact see something that causes her to question his activities. Sister James suspects there's something wrong about the relationship Father Brendan has with the school's only African American student and voices her concerns to Sister Aloysius. Although Sister James didn't witness any inappropriate behavior, her observations fuel the fire of suspicion already burning in Sister Aloysius.