Movie: Sundays

What would you do if your 17-year-old daughter came home from school and said she wanted to become a nun?

That’s the question some audience members could be asking after seeing the Spanish movie Sundays (Los domingos).

Set in Bilbao, the movie tells of clever and deeply religious 17-year-old Ainiara (Blanca Soroa) who, on her return from a retreat organised by her Catholic boarding school, wants to return to the school’s governing convent for ‘religious discernment’.

The news spreads through the family, who gather every Sunday for lunch at their paternal grandmother  María Dolores’ (Mabel Rivera) house. Then they discover the discernment is the first step in becoming a nun at the cloistered convent.

That Ainiara should consider such a move shocks her family especially her widowed father Iñaki (Miguel Garcés) and his sister Maite (Patricia López Arnaiz) Ainiara’s aunt.

Maite is horrified.  Since the death of Ainiara’s mother at a young age, Maite has become a mother figure to Ainiara and her two younger sisters.

Strong willed, independent and a non-believer Maite wants her niece to go to university, travel and generally have fun,and definitely not lock herself away in a convent at the age of 17.

Her father’s reaction isn’t as strong as his sister’s. His main concern seems to be financial. A restaurant owner, he confesses over dinner that he has just spent 310,000 euros to renovate the place, much to Maite’s displeasure.  Even more shocking – their mother has allowed Iñaki to use her home as collateral.

Maite is also dealing with her frustration towards her laid-back husband Pablo (Juan Minujín) with whom she shares a young son.

More supportive of Ainiara’s wish are the priest and spiritual adviser at her school and the convent’s Mother Superior Isabel (Nagore Aranburu).

Given Ainiara needs permission from her father to return to the convent, something he is reticent to do, Maite does all she can to ensure Ainiara has fun with her teenage friends with the hope it may change her mind. As a result Ainiara  ends of up having a very close encounter with Mikel (Guille Zani), a young man from her choir whom she has always liked.

Their actions result in her father agreeing she can attend the convent. However, Maite isn’t giving up on trying to stop the move. Accompanying Iñaki to drop off Ainiara at the convent she asks Isabel to tell her niece to continue her studies and to go to university. Isabel refuses arguing such decisions are up to God’s will.

A family tragedy cuts short Ainiara’s stay at the convent after which she makes a monumental decision on her future.

One of the joys of director and screenwriter, Alauda Ruiz de Azúa’s film is the even-handed treatment given to the different points of view expressed in the movie. How much is Ainiara’s decision driven by her faith or has she been influenced by others, have the often-fiery family conflicts impacted her decision and what effect has losing her mother at a young age had ?

Another highlight is Ruiz de Azúa’s choice of actors.  Newcomer Blanca Soroa gives a brilliant performance as a thoughtful, conflicted, idealistic 17-year-old dealing with a life changing decision.

Equally as impressive is Patricia López Arnaiz as the emotional and fiery Maite who not only has to deal with the horror of her niece’s actions but her brother’s financial woes and her failing marriage.

Thanks to their performances and those of the rest of the cast, particularly Miguel Garcés and Nagore Aranburu, Sundays offers a non-judgemental, thought-provoking 117-minute movie experience.

Sundays opens in Australian cinemas on October 29.

* ©PalaceFilms