Doubt
Year: 2008
Rating: PG-13
Length: 104 minutes / 1.73 hours
Years before Spotlight (2015) won the Oscar for Best Picture, Doubt (2008) took a hard look at the scandals that have been in the Catholic Church for some time and presented a gripping parable of gossip versus evidence. Aside from this central point, I found Doubt to be a fantastic movie filled with contrasts. The differences between male and female leaders in the Church only heightened the fundamental conflict between Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s characters. Add to this the hardline stance of Streep’s Sister Aloysius, who has no flexibility for rules that aren’t actually in the Bible, and the result is an incredible look into changing times.
Aside from Streep and Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis also gave superb performances full of raw and heartfelt emotion. In fact, I’d recommend everyone watch this film just for the career-defining roles of these individuals. Even among these, the intense ambiguity involved with Doubt’s core premise is a testament to the excellent writing present within its screenplay. The fact that the cinematography used Dutch angles and other film techniques to sow discord and unease to such a significant effect enhances the source material even more than the stage could ever produce.
While there are no direct answers or consolations for the turmoil of the Church in this movie, it is slightly disheartening to see any doubt arise amongst the Church’s leaders in the first place. Sure, there is a need to break into the modern world and reach modern people, but if this is at the cost of looser morals, do the ends justify the means? It’s disheartening to live in a time where trusted leaders in a community will always have the squinted eye of suspicion because of others who have abused their power. Then again, to sin is to be human, so nobody should be above suspicion in this fallen world.
An acting tour-de-force with thrilling ambiguity at its core, I give Doubt 5.0 stars out of 5.
