‘Novitiate’ to open at Cinema Art Theater Dec. 22

Starting Saturday, Dec. 22, the Rehoboth Beach Film Society's Cinema Art Theater will present "Novitiate," a drama about a young woman’s coming of age in a convent during the reforms of Vatican II. The film features a powerful supporting performance by Melissa Leo as the mother-superior.

Spanning over a decade from the early 1950s to the mid-60s, "Novitiate" is about a young girl's first initiation with love, in this case with God. Cathleen, raised by a non-religious, single mother in rural Tennessee, earns a scholarship to Catholic school and soon finds herself drawn into the mystery and romanticism of a life devoted to the worship and servitude of God. With the dawn of the Vatican II era, radical changes in the church are threatening the course of nuns' lives. As she progresses from the postulant to the novitiate stage of training, she finds her faith repeatedly confronted and challenged by the harsh, often inhumane realities of being a servant of God.

Screening times are 4 p.m., Friday, Dec. 22; 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 23; 4 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 26; 1 and 4 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 27; and 7 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 28. Tickets can be purchased at the Cinema Art Theater starting 30 minutes prior to each screening. Admission for a screening is $8 for film society members and $10 for nonmembers. The theater is at 17701 Dartmouth Drive in Dartmouth Plaza, behind the Lewes Wawa.

For more information, go to rehobothfilm.com or call 302-645-9095.