Agnes of God (1985)

★ 6.3 1h 38m 135 votes IMDb

Drama Mystery

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.

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Cast

Jane Fonda as Dr. Martha Louise Livingston Age 88 · New York City, New York, USA Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. She is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film...

Meg Tilly as Sister Agnes Age 66 · Long Beach, California, USA Meg Tilly (born Margaret Elizabeth Chan; February 14, 1960) is a Canadian-American actress and novelist. For her role in the 1985 film Agnes of God, she won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for...

Anne Bancroft as Mother Miriam Ruth Died 2005 · The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA Anne Bancroft (born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano; September 17, 1931 – June 6, 2005) was an American actress. Respected for her acting prowess and versatility, Bancroft received an Academy Award, three...

Anne Pitoniak as Dr. Livingston's Mother Died 2007 · Westfield, Massachusetts, USA Anne Pitoniak (March 30, 1922 – April 22, 2007) was an American actress. She was nominated twice for Broadway's Tony Award: as Best Actress (Play) in 1983, for 'night, Mother, and as Best Actress (Fea...

Winston Rekert as Det. Larry Langevin Died 2012 · Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Winston Houghton Rekert (June 10, 1949 – September 14, 2012) was a Canadian actor. He was best known for starring in the television series Adderly and Neon Rider. In 1985, he played the role of Detec...

Gratien Gélinas as Father Martineau Died 1999 · Saint-Tite, Québec, Canada Gratien Gélinas (December 8, 1909 – March 16, 1999) was a Canadian writer, playwright, actor, director, producer and administrator who is considered one of the founders of modern Canadian theatre and...

Director Norman Jewison

Cast Jane Fonda, Meg Tilly, Anne Bancroft, Anne Pitoniak, Winston Rekert, Gratien Gélinas, Guy Hoffmann, Gabriel Arcand, Françoise Faucher, Jacques Tourangeau

Wuchak 5/10 Nov 24, 2020

_**Melodramatic havoc at a rural Canadian Convent with Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft and Meg Tilly**_

After a bloody scandal at a Convent outside Montreal, a court-appointed psychiatrist (Jane Fonda) investigates to determine if a devout, but hysterical young woman (Meg Tilly) is fit to stand trial, but she’ll have to get past the intractable Mother Superior (Anne Bancroft) to find the truth.

"Agnes of God" (1985) is a psychological drama revolving around a Convent with a few scenes of Montreal thrown in.

What we have here is a mystery: Was the innocent & naïve Agnes (1) impregnated by God, (2) by some dude in the barn or wherever, or (3) a kind of spontaneous cloning or twinning. Concerning that last possibility: There are supposedly nine documented virgin births on record and the offspring were all girls who looked like their mothers. The idea that Agnes calls the baby "she” augments this possibility, plus the fact that she seemingly has enough faith to put holes in her hand, aka stigmata, why couldn't she split a cell in her womb?

I’m not going to say what conclusion the ambiguous film points to, if any.

“Stigmata” (1999) covers some of the same ground but is from the thriller/horror genre whereas “Agnes of God” is more mundane. “Stigmata” is all-around more compelling while “Agnes” is rather one-dimensional with women constantly confronting each other with a lot of screaming and crying. Yes, there are heavy reasons for these emotional dialogues, and those reasons are interesting to explore, but the story just wasn’t gripping for me. Too bad, because Fonda, Bancroft and Tilly bend over backwards to pull it off.

While the movie didn’t really work for me, it’s a passionate and noble effort centering around faith, logic and ultimate reality (truth). And I have no doubt it has a cult following. Give it a try if the themes trip your trigger, but you’ll probably be disappointed.

The movie runs 1 hour, 38 minutes, and was shot in Rockwood & Toronto, Ontario, with establishing shots of Montreal.

GRADE: C