Research guides: Christianity and Film: Nuns on Film

Nuns on Film

This page lists movies or television series which include a significant character who is a member of a women's religious order.

Agnes of God.
Call Number: PS3566 .I38 A56 2002 DVD SMC
Directed by Norman Jewison.
98 minutes; released 1985.
A court-appointed psychiatrist investigates the death of a newborn baby in a convent.
Anchoress.
Call Number: PN1997 .A53 2000 DVD SMC
Directed by Chris Newby.
108 minutes; released 1993.
In fourteenth-century England, a peasant girl is so attracted to a statue of the Virgin Mary that the local priest suggests she be walled up in the church as an anchoress. But when the priest has the girl's mother tried as a witch, she digs herself out of her cell, a crime for which the punishment is death.
Au Revoir les Enfants = Goodbye Children.
Call Number: PN1997 .A974 2006 DVD SMC
Directed by Louis Malle.
101 minutes; released 1987.
A Jewish boy is hidden from the Nazis in a French Catholic boarding school. In French with English subtitles.
The Bells of St. Mary's.
Call Number: PN1997 .B455 2003 DVD SMC
Directed by Leo McCarey.
126 minutes; released 1945.
Easy-going Father O'Malley and iron-willed Sister Benedict find themselves in a subtle battle of wits over how the children should be educated at St. Mary's Parochial School. Starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman.
Brides of Christ.
Call Number: PN1997 .B74 2005 DVD SMC
Directed by Ken Cameron.
327 minutes; released 1991.
Six young women enter an Australian convent in the turbulent 1960's and are caught up in the climactic social changes happening all around them.
Change of Habit.
Call Number: PN1997 .C42 2002 DVD SMC
Directed by William Graham.
93 minutes; released 1969.
A young doctor falls in love with a nun on leave for an assignment at a medical clinic.
Dead Man Walking.
Call Number: PN1997 .D375 1999 DVD SMC
Directed by Tim Robbins.
122 minutes; released 1995.
A nun acts as spiritual advisor to a man awaiting execution on death row. Based on the life of Sister Helen Prejean.
Divine Mercy, No Escape.
Call Number: BX4705 .F266 D5 2003 DVD SMC
Directed by Hermann D. Tauchert.
47 minutes; released 1994.
Dramatization of the life of Polish nun, Saint Faustina Kowalska.
Faustina.
Call Number: BX4705 .F266 F37 2003 DVD SMC
Directed by Jerzy Lukaszewicz.
75 minutes; released 1994.
Dramatization of the life of Polish nun, Saint Faustina Kowalska. Audio-track in Polish with English subtitles.
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison.
Call Number: PR9619.3 .S479 H438 2003 DVD SMC
Directed by John Huston.
108 minutes; released 1957.
A nun is marooned with a Marine sergeant on a South Pacific island occupied by Japanese troops. Based on the novel by Charles Shaw. Starring Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum.
In This House of Brede.
Call Number: PR6013 .O25 I52 2000 DVD SMC
Directed by George Schaefer.
95 minutes; released 1975.
A successful career woman becomes a Benedictine nun. Based on the novel by Rumer Godden.
The Magdalene Sisters.
Call Number: PN1997.2 .M34 2004 DVD SMC
Directed by Peter Mullan.
120 minutes; released 2002.
Three young Irish women struggle to maintain their spirits while they endure dehumanizing abuse as inmates of a home for unwed mothers run by nuns. Audio-track in English or French, with optional English, French, or Spanish subtitles.
Miracle at Moreaux.
Call Number: PN1997 .M56 2003 DVD SMC
Directed by Paul Shapiro.
58 minutes; released 1986.
Three Jewish children hide from the Nazis in a convent school in France.
Mother Teresa.
Call Number: BX4406.5 .Z8 M678 2006 DVD SMC
Directed by Fabrizio Costa.
115 minutes; released 2003.
A feature-length movie dramatization of the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Mother Teresa: In the Name of God's Poor.
Call Number: BX4406.5 .Z8 L36 2005 DVD SMC
Directed by Kevin Connor.
92 minutes; released 1997.
A feature-length movie dramatization of the life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
The Nun's Story.
Call Number: PS3515 .U374 N822 2006 DVD SMC
Directed by Fred Zinnemann.
152 minutes; released 1959.
A young nun dedicated to medical work in the African Congo and in World War II Belgium struggles to reconcile her independent spirit to the rigors and humility of a religious life.
The Passion of Bernadette.
Call Number: BX4700 .S65 P377 1991 DVD SMC
Directed by Jean Delannoy.
106 minutes; released 1989.
The story of Saint Bernadette Soubirous (the visionary of Lourdes) after she entered the Sisters of Charity convent at Nevers. Audio-track in English or French.
The Seventh Chamber of Edith Stein.
Call Number: BX4705 .S814 E36 2010 DVD SMC
Directed by Márta Mészáros.
110 minutes; released 1996.
A dramatization of the life of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, the Carmelite nun who was killed at Auschwitz. Audio-track in French with English subtitles.
The Sound of Music.
Call Number: PS3523 .I575 S682 2005 DVD SMC
Directed by Robert Wise.
174 minutes; released 1965.
A novice nun takes a leave from her convent to become governess to six children in pre-World War II Austria.
St. Teresa of Avila.
Call Number: BX4700 .T4 T474 2008 DVD SMC
Directed by Josefina Molina.
450 minutes; released 1984.
A mini-series dramatization of the life of the sixteenth century Spanish nun and mystic, Teresa de Jesus. Audio-track in Spanish with optional English subtitles.
The Staircase.
Call Number: PN1997 .S729 2006 DVD SMC
Directed by Karen Arthur.
95 minutes; released 1998.
A nun attempts to fulfill a friend's last wish by completing work on a new chapel. The project seems hopeless, until the arrival of a mysterious stranger.
Thérèse.
Call Number: BX4700 .T5 T447 2005 DVD SMC
Directed by Leonardo Defilippis.
96 minutes; released 2004.
Dramatization of the life of the Carmelite nun, St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Audio-track in English with optional French or Spanish subtitles.
The Trouble with Angels.
Call Number: PS3570 .R29 T72 2003 DVD SMC
Directed by Ida Lupino.
111 minutes; released 1966.
Two teenage girls put a convent school into disarray with their pranks and practical jokes.
Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows.
Call Number: PN1997 .W54 2003 DVD SMC
Directed by James Neilson.
94 minutes; released 1968.
In this sequel to The Trouble With Angels a young nun convinces her wry but wise Mother Superior to take the convent's nuns on a bus trip to a California peace rally.
Vision.
Call Number: BX4700 .H5 V575 2010 DVD SMC
Directed by Margarethe von Trotta.
111 minutes; released 2009.
The story of Saint Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century Benedictine nun, who was one of the of the most important, inspirational and visionary female leaders of the Medieval Age.