- Directors: John Patrick Shanley
- Producers: Scott Rudin
- Writers: John Patrick Shanley
- Genres: Drama, Mystery
- Actors: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis
Set in 1964 at a Catholic church in the Bronx, New York, the film opens with Father Flynn (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) giving a sermon on the nature of doubt, noting that, like faith, it can be a unifying force. That evening, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), the strict principal of the attached school, discusses the sermon with her fellow nuns, the Sisters of Charity of New York. She asks if anyone has observed unusual behavior to give Father Flynn cause for preaching about doubt, and instructs them to keep their eyes open for any such behavior.
Sister James (Amy Adams), a young and naïve teacher, observes the closeness between Father Flynn and Donald Miller, the school’s only black student and an altar boy. One day during class, Sister James receives a call in her class asking for Donald Miller to meet Father Flynn in the rectory. When he returns, Donald is distraught and Sister James notices the smell of alcohol on his breath. Later, while her students are learning a dance, she sees Father Flynn placing a white shirt in Donald’s locker. On guard for unusual behavior, Sister James reveals her suspicions to Sister Aloysius.
Under the pretext of discussing problems with the school’s Christmas play, Sisters Aloysius and James confront Father Flynn with their suspicions that his relationship with Donald may be inappropriate. Several times, Father Flynn asks them to leave the matter alone as a private issue between the boy and himself but Sister Aloysius persists. The priest relents, revealing that Donald had been caught drinking altar wine. He explains that he had promised the student not to tell anyone about the incident, and that he could remain an altar boy. Having now been forced to break that promise and reveal the truth, he will need to dismiss Donald as an altar boy. Father Flynn tells Sister Aloysius that he is disappointed in the way she handled this.
…
Following his final sermon, the nuns sit together in the church garden. Sister Aloysius tells Sister James that although Father Flynn has left, he has been given a more prestigious parish with its parochial school, in effect a promotion. She goes on to reveal that she lied about speaking to a nun at Father Flynn’s former church. Repeating a line from earlier in the film that “In the pursuit of wrongdoing, one steps away from God,” she adds that there is also a price. Aloysius breaks down in tears and says to Sister James, “I have doubts.”