Nuns loom large in the European imagination. They are often caricatured to the point of dehumanisation. Either as a grotesque comic creation, like the chocolate-obsessed sister in Father Ted (1995-1998), or a monstrous aberration, like the demon Valak from the Conjuring (2013-2025) films.
Either way, by rendering the nun unreal, and stripping her of personhood, these portrayals allow viewers to avoid confronting the uncomfortable questions that a flesh and blood nun raises. In contrast, nuns who are not safely contained in the realm of fiction, but live and breathe in our world, force us to consider whether the aspirations and desires that society expects women, and indeed human beings, to feel, are in fact cultural rather than innate.
If we take the dangerous step of acknowledging that nuns are no different from anybody else, we face the unsettling question of whether we too could reshape our experience of sexuality, fulfilment, interpersonal connection and community. Watching the new documentary film Mother Vera pushes viewers forcefully to take that step.
