Three stubborn old nuns and a wide-eyed young whippersnapper head off on a mission to save the farm – sorry, convent – in this earnestly made but emotionally lukewarm road movie. The ace up Holy Days’ sleeve is the casting, with each nun played by a legend of stage and screen: Judy Davis as Sister Agnes, Miriam Margolyes as Sister Luke and Jacki Weaver as Sister Mary Clare. It quickly becomes clear, however, that nobody is on their A-game. And the film itself is a frustrating mix of comedy and drama: not funny enough to solicit any real laughs, nor sufficiently dramatic to forge strong connections with the characters.
These folk are a rather unexciting lot, despite a clear desire to present young Brian (Elijah Tamati) as the emotional glue holding things together and the habit-wearing trio as hot-blooded eccentrics. Their rundown convent, which we’re supposed to feel invested in, is a drab location both aesthetically and emotionally; it’s decaying – but not in a handsome, cinematic way. Nor is it brought to life by the people who inhabit it; in fact, the building feels borderline soulless. Maybe the developers have a point, I caught myself thinking, and this crusty old place could become a snazzy new apartment block or shopping centre.
