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Brilliant. The performances were stunning. The ambiguity that Hoffman and Streep captured was a joy to watch, so subtle. The smaller parts were generally well cast, particularly Viola Davis as Mrs. Miller, who's performance was excellent. I was pleased by all the ordinary looking people in the movie. Only the very young nun was movie star pretty. It pleased me to see normal looking people on the big screen. The child acting was pleasingly transparent. I could believe in these characters, that they would think and act as they did. The dialog had issues here and there, but was mostly fine. The set design and possibly the costumes deserve an Oscar. Seriously, in the first scene I could almost smell the vestments and that vestry scent. Everything was perfect, polished wood and peeling paint. I found myself itching in sympathy looking at the uniforms and remembering the confined feeling they give the wearer. The classrooms, the principal's office, the halls, the invocation of season, all perfect in their realistic imperfections. The whole piece had a claustrophobic intensity that created real suspense despite the lack of action elements.


Well worth seeing on a screen large enough to carry the nuances of expression.