"I have doubts! I have such doubts!"

SISTER ALOYSIUS: “Oh, Sister James!”

SISTER JAMES: “What is it, Sister?”

SISTER ALOYSIUS: “I have doubts! I have such doubts!”

In 2008, director, playwright and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley released his film Doubt, based on his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play, Doubt: A Parable.

The story is set in 1964, the year after the assassination of President Kennedy, and takes place in the Bronx (New York). It tells the story of the budding feud between nun and catholic school principal Sister Beauvier (Meryl Streep) and Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Their differences are triggered by a grey and unclear situation brought to the attention of Sister James (Amy Adams), a nun and history teacher at the school. Donald Miller, the institution's first and only African-American student, returns to class after a one-on-one meeting with Father Flynn behaving in an unusual manner, which arouses Sister Beauvier's suspicions of sexual abuse. What happened in this meeting between the student and Father Flynn is what the whole film tries to unravel.

This is the plot of the film. It is worth noting that this article may contain spoilers. If you haven't seen the film, I strongly recommend you to do so.

For this Peliplat challenge I chose a line of dialogue that is spoken by Sister Beauvier. It's right at the end of the film, and it's impossible to forget because it resonates with everything you've seen. It is a memorable, climactic and emotionally charged scene, where she reveals the cards she has played with while at the same time exposing her vulnerability. The dialogue in particular "I have doubts! I have such doubts!" can be interpreted in many different ways, which only enriches a film that does not lack of nuances. I include the ending for those who want to refresh it.

Let's think about what this phrase implies for the character. Sister Beauvier is someone who prides herself on making others feel that she possesses a ubiquitous presence, someone with ‘eyes in the back of her head’ and who is not missing a thing. “Well, it’s my job to outshine the fox in cleverness”, she says in the film. She stands for authority, discipline and righteousness. The students fear her, and she understands that it is right that this should be so. Her humanity is visible when she cares for her fellow nuns, but she does not want to be perceived as too attentive. On the other hand, she embraces the hierarchies established by the Church, otherwise she would not be able to fulfil her role as a nun, it would be impossible for her to keep her vows. It is precisely this aspect that is brought into crisis in the film, and it will come about through her suspicions of Father Flynn.

“Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty” is what Father Flynn says in his sermon at the beginning of the film: doubt is definitely the theme that dominates the film (in case the title didn't make it clear). At the end, we are left to think what doubt Sister Beauvier is referring to. “When you are lost, you are not alone” is how Father Flynn finishes his sermon. The sceptical Sister James ends up being a sort of confidant for Sister Beauvier, but reveals that she can no longer sleep as she used to. Both must live with the doubt of what really happened, and that is dramatically very powerful.

Also, Sister James hits the nail on the head when she realises that Sister Beauvier has it in for Father Flynn, beyond her suspicions, because she doesn't like what he stands for. This statement by Amy Adams' character encapsulates a struggle over the role of the Church, one more conservative and the other more progressive, represented by Beauvier and Flynn. It is exemplified by this dialogue from Sister James:

SISTER JAMES: You just don’t like him! You don’t like it that he uses a ballpoint pen. You don’t like it that he takes three lumps of sugar in his tea. You don’t like it that he likes FROSTY THE SNOWMAN. And you’re letting that convince you of something terrible, just terrible! Well, I like FROSTY THE SNOWMAN! And I think it would be nice if this school weren’t run like a jail!

On the other hand, the doubt in installed in us as viewers. Throughout the film, there are enough reasons for us to become suspicious of Father Flynn and, very skilfully, the film immerses us in the ambiguity of his figure. In tension-filled scenes, the duel between the characters is punctuated by accusations, possible retaliations and the fear of stepping out of the established.

The polysemic nature of cinema, involving a variety of possible signifiers, is what makes it so rich. As viewers, we can deduce from the cathartic ending line that Sister Beauvier has a crisis of faith towards an entire system of which she is also a part. Her doubts go beyond Father Flynn and reach her superiors, who, instead of sanctioning the father on the basis of her serious suspicions, decide to reward him with a promotion, discrediting that such suspicions have any truth to them.

This is how the final line summarises everything that the film has been building up to, leaving no room for indifference. It only adds layers of complexity to the story by endowing it with a human and contradictory subtext, which opens the debate to think about all the issues the film deals with, such as prejudice, guilt, religion, the porosity of conservative institutions, double standards, racism, sexual discrimination, domestic violence, class differences and social hierarchies.

Doubt is a great film with terrific performances (its entire cast was deservedly nominated for an Oscar), a precise script and masterful cinematography by the legendary Roger Deakins. It's a film that leaves you wondering even after watching it several times: is there really such an extraordinary achievement to which cinema can aspire?