SOMETIMES THE GOOD KILL

Canada, 2017, 90 minutes, Colour.
Susie Abromeit, Amanda Brugel, Deborah Grover.
Directed by Philippe Gagnon.

Something of an ambiguous title. It is explained at the end, not in terms of the murder, but in the background of the central character, Sister Talia, who joined the convent from an anonymous central European country and had been involved in violence.

This is a Canadian film. The setting is a huge Abbey, sparsely populated by nuns, with vast exteriors, interiors with huge dining room, corridors, sisters’ rooms and offices.

Audiences with something of a staunch or traditional Catholic background may have some difficulties with the film and its presentation of the traditional way of life in the convent and the contemporary changes.

The superior is found murdered, there is lobbying for the new election of a superior, the new superior asking Sister Talia to investigate and discover the murderer – compounded when another sister is found murdered in the bath and the local mechanic is murdered in the garage.

Strangely, the sisters do not call in the police, but handle the burial of the bodies by themselves. Sister Talia interviews a range of people, has a good friend in Sister Faith, has continual verbal battles and psychological struggles with the older, more traditional and often bitter Sister Jean. There is also the rival to the superior, the business manager of the convent.

There are several revelations, that the mentally impaired sister is the daughter of the superior and was influenced by the murderer. There is also the suggestion, seemingly approved by the cardinal who may want to close down the convent, that the whole plant be transformed into condominiums.

Average with the touch of intrigue.

1. TV thriller, mystery, from Canada?

2. Catholicism, the background, audience expectations? The old abbey and its vastness? Nuns in old habits? New habits? Issues of discipline? Old style community life and communication, freer attitudes?

3. Community life, the role of superiors, the membership of the community? The deaths, elections, lobbying, the results, opinions, expectations? The meals, the discussions?

4. The situation, the finding of the dead superior? The background to her life, being on the roof, the various ambitions of the sisters, the revelation that the Abbey could be turned into condominiums? The nature of the suspects?

5. Sister Talia, attractive, her past, killing in her former country? Her friendship with Faith? The discussions with the mechanic? The new superior taking her into her confidence, asking her to investigate? Her reaction, the nature of an enquiries, interviews? The clashes with Sister Jean and reactions?

6. The range of sisters, the sister who was upset about the superior’s death, intellectually and emotionally impaired? The sister managing the business affairs? The rival superior? The Chinese and her feeling hard done by? Racial issues, the nuns not coming from Canada but from overseas countries?

7. The presence of the clergy, officiating at the funeral, the business discussions with the sister manager, the role of the cardinal, the possibility of closing down the convent? Its transformation?

8. Kinsella, his links with the convent, the relationship with the superior, his daughter, business connections, the death of his nephew?

9. The convent not wanting to call in the police? Fear? The death of the superior, the death of Mary in the bath, the death of the mechanic?

10. The focus on Sister Jean, her age, conventional, ambiguous, bitterness, the discussions with Talia?

11. The cellars, the rival superior, the fight? The solution?

12. Talia and her leaving the convent?