Movie · 1985 · Drama, Mystery · 1h 38m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 2.9/10 (13.5K ratings)
That night, murder wasn't the only sin.
Overview
When a dead newborn is found, wrapped in bloody sheets, in the bedroom wastebasket of a young novice, psychiatrist Martha Livingston is called in to determine if the seemingly innocent novice, who knows nothing of sex or birth, is competent enough to stand trial for the murder of the baby.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.9/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.35/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 44%
Metacritic: 52
TMDB: 6.3/10
Director
Norman Jewison
Production
Columbia Pictures
Cast
Jane Fonda, Meg Tilly, Anne Bancroft, Anne Pitoniak, Winston Rekert, Gratien Gélinas, Guy Hoffmann, Gabriel Arcand, Françoise Faucher, Jacques Tourangeau, Janine Fluet, Deborah Grover, Michele George, Samantha Langevin, Jacqueline Blais, Françoise Berd, Mimi D'Estée, Rita Tuckett, Lillian Graham, Norma Dell'Agnese
Curator Review
Verdict
A moody, performance-driven chamber mystery with strong atmosphere and a genuinely intriguing central conflict, but it can feel stagebound and emotionally evasive. The film’s questions about faith, trauma, and institutional power are more compelling than its answers.
Best for
viewers who like psychological mysteries set in confined spaces
fans of prestige 1980s dramas with heavyweight performances
audiences interested in religion-versus-rationalism debates
people who enjoy ambiguous endings and moral uncertainty
Skip if
you want a fast-moving thriller
you prefer clear answers over open-ended symbolism
you’re put off by talk-heavy, theatrical dramas
you dislike stories centered on Catholic institutions and convent life
Overview
Agnes of God is built around a classic pressure-cooker setup: one room, three formidable women, and a mystery that keeps shifting between the psychological and the spiritual. The film’s greatest asset is its cast, especially Meg Tilly’s fragile, elusive Agnes and the sparring intelligence of Jane Fonda and Anne Bancroft. Their scenes give the movie real tension, even when the script leans heavily on dialogue and thesis-driven confrontation.
Worth noting
Norman Jewison stages the material with restraint, letting the convent’s austerity and George Delerue’s score create a hushed, uneasy atmosphere. The film is most effective when it refuses to settle the question of what happened, using that uncertainty to probe faith, repression, and the limits of clinical explanation. At the same time, the drama can feel a little too tidy in its symbolism and a little too cautious in its final implications.
Bottom line
If you’re drawn to adult-minded mysteries that are more about argument and character than plot mechanics, this is worth a look. If you want a sharper thriller or a more decisive emotional payoff, it may leave you admired rather than fully satisfied.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine (4★) · 122 likes
Another excellent recommendation from the Letterboxd gang. This time in a film with a fairly cliched and tiresome approach to the Catholic Church, notably the nun conventions and their tight restrictions, and how this can presumably lead to a lot of problematic actions. At the same time, it exploits this for the endless discussion between the value or irrelevance of the church in contemporary times, from a place that, as I noted earlier, feels a bit shallow where it doesn't… more Another excellent recommendation from the Letterboxd gang. This time in a film with a fairly cliched and tiresome approach to the Catholic Church, notably the nun conventions and their tight restrictions, and how this can presumably lead to a lot of problematic actions. At the same time, it exploits this for the endless discussion between the value or irrelevance of the church in contemporary times, from a place that, as I noted earlier, feels a bit shallow where it doesn't… more
Sara Clements (3.5★) · 72 likes
Anne Bancroft: *singing religious hymns*
Me: Our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heav-
Erik [Auk] (3.5★) · 62 likes
Ignoring the atrocious poster here on Letterboxd, Agnes of God is actually a very interesting film. Jane Fonda plays psychiatrist Martha Livingston who investigates a convent of nuns after a young nun named Agnes secretly delivers a baby and it is found dead soon after. Agnes is a woman with little education and exposure to the outside world and who talks of hearing voices and direct godly intervention. Livingston sets out to unravel the mystery of what really happened, how… more Ignoring the atrocious poster here on Letterboxd, Agnes of God is actually a very interesting film. Jane Fonda plays psychiatrist Martha Livingston who investigates a convent of nuns after a young nun named Agnes secretly delivers a baby and it is found dead soon after. Agnes is a woman with little education and exposure to the outside world and who talks of hearing voices and direct godly intervention. Livingston sets out to unravel the mystery of what really happened, how… more
alan (4★) · 58 likes
this has everything a movie could have to make me interested: nuns, anne bancroft as the mother superior, jane fonda angry with the catholic church... ugh, the power of women
Melina (4.5★) · 56 likes
Emotionally and mentally fragile, abused, mistreated, and all around misunderstood...I felt like no one could reach Agnes except Dr. Livingston. She was so close to finding out so many answers and gaining the trust of not only Agnes but also Mother. I felt sympathy for every single character in this film. Whether this was "immaculate conception", seduction, rape, or intentional; the cast did a brilliant job of making you believe it was all of the above. The mystery was present throughout the entire film and I guess some answers we just weren't meant to know.
1962 · Drama, History · 1h 46m · NR · Curator 9.3/10 (22.4K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Shares the same interest in intense two-hander performance dynamics and the struggle to reach someone seemingly unreachable.
1996 · Drama, History · 2h 3m · PG-13 · Curator 4.0/10 (96K ratings) · Where to watch: BroadwayHD
Another story of accusation, belief, and social panic, where certainty becomes its own kind of violence.
Topics
psychological drama, religious mystery, chamber piece, 1980s cinema, slow-burn tension, female-led, institutional power, moral ambiguity, faith and doubt, prestige drama