Final Vows
Religion
•
1h 23m
Directed by Victoria Westover • Documentary • 2024 • 84 minutes
Final Vows chronicles the life of a cloistered order of nuns at Santa Rita Abbey, a Cistercian monastery in the high desert of Arizona. The nuns, who take a vow that binds them to remain in the community they entered for life, candidly share their joys and struggles. While each woman's journey is unique, they all felt a call and chose to join this community of prayer and work.
The nuns rise at 4am for their first prayers of the day and support themselves through the production and sale of altar bread. The Abbey faces challenges as the nuns are aging and few young women are choosing a monastic life. The Abbess, a life-sustaining presence for this striving community, may be required to step down soon when she turns 75 years old.
Made from small moments of daily life, the film serves as a meditation on aging and caring for others and asks viewers to consider if this lifestyle offers any wisdom for our society.
Up Next in Religion
-
Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism's Un...
Directed by Stephen Ujlaki, Christopher Jacob Jones • Documentary • With Peter Coyote • 2024 • 89 minutes
BAD FAITH explores the dangerous rise of Christian Nationalism in the United States. Part archival chronicle, part exposé, the film reveals the secretive political machinery that has relentl...
-
The Apocalyptic is the Mother of All ...
Directed by Jim Finn • Documentary • With Linda Montano, Usama Alshaibi, Jim Finn, Begüm Malkoçlar • 2023 • 64 minutes
A psychedelic portrait of the founding theorist of Christianity. The story of Paul the Apostle’s life, ideology and influence is told by piecing together 20th Century 16mm and ...
-
Indigo
Directed by Julio López Fernández • Documentary • With Emy Mena, Larissa Maltez, Lilibeth Rivas • 2023 • 65 minutes
Three young actresses recreate testimonies of women who suffered sexual assault during the Salvadoran civil war in a fable guided by the history of Indigo, which narrates the explo...
