Sister Mary Explains It All (2001)

A tyrannical Catholic nun (Diane Keaton) is giving her annual Christmas lecture when four former students (Laura San Giacomo, Jennifer Tilly, Brian Benben, Wallace Langham) crash the lecture and confront her about how her fanatical teachings and bullying ways have impacted their adult lives. Based on the play SISTER MARY IGNATIUS EXPLAINS IT ALL TO YOU by Christopher Durang (who adapted his play for the screen) and directed by Marshall Brickman (an Oscar winner for co-writing ANNIE HALL). Some plays are conceived in a manner that are so rooted in a theatrical conceit that a transition to another medium like film or television renders the play ineffective. Durang's black satire is just such a play. In his play, the audience was part of the play as Sister Mary engaged directly to the audience. In the film (made for Showtime), the audience at her lecture are actors playing parts and their reactions throw the dark farce off kilter. None of it seems real, not even in the preconceived exaggerated unreality of Durang's universe. Still, to anyone who's been raised in the Catholic faith (as I was) and was taught by nuns (as I was), the shock of recognition makes the laughter catch in your throat. Those nuns were brutal! Worth seeing for Keaton's performance. With Martin Mull, Victoria Tennant and Max Morrow.