BREAKING HABITS
US, 2018, 87 minutes, Colour.
Sister Kate.
Directed by Robert Ryan.
Very few people in California, in the US, let alone around the world had heard of the Sisters of the Valley before the release of this documentary film.
No, they are not Catholic sisters even though they have variations on the religious habits of the past. So, who are they? They are a group of women who are advocating the medicinal use of marijuana, growing it, processing it to make it suitable for commercial sales to those in need. They are sisters with a mission.
And how did all this come about? The focus is on Christine Meeusenfled and her story. So, the first part of this film is a portrait of Christine, a happy marriage, a devoted husband, Gary, their three children – and an extraordinary disillusionment. Gary had been embezzling all of Christine’s salaries over 17 years, makes off with the money, no recompense, completely callous. Christine has had to survive. While working, she discovers the lucrative business of growing and harvesting marijuana.
This work becomes her life’s mission, setting herself up as a nun with a habit, (in both senses!). Because she had a strong business sense, she is able to turn the whole enterprise into profit. The film shows a number of her followers, disciples, or rather forthright women in their views and expression, following the lead of Christine who, because she has a new mission in life, calls herself Sister Kate.
If one is sympathetic, there is a great deal of material in the film to show the sisters at work, their sales, the benefits of their medicinal marijuana for chronic sufferers of pain. There is an explanation that they are not Catholic nuns, not religious (in either sense), but a sisterhood.
Throughout the film legal issues are raised, the local police are not in favour at all of the enterprise, ready to arrest the nuns given any opportunity. They have their own legal counsel. But there are politicians and other people in public position who are against them. There are arguments pro and con their business. There are also scientific explanations of the process to render the marijuana more suitable for medicinal purposes rather than for getting high.
Interestingly, one of Sister Kate’s sons is helping her after recovering from his own drug problems and initial teenage rebellion.
The story is significant for California and the question can be raised whether it is significant for other parts of the world. Whatever the case, this is a curiosity item documentary.
