Opening

87% Star Trek Into Darkness May 16
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60% Oz the Great and Powerful $1.1M

Coming Soon

—— The Hangover Part III May 23
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94% Before Midnight May 24

Doubt (2008)

tomatometer

78

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 205
Fresh: 160 | Rotten: 45

Doubt succeeds on the strength of its top-notch cast, who successfully guide the film through the occasional narrative lull.

73

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 45
Fresh: 33 | Rotten: 12

Doubt succeeds on the strength of its top-notch cast, who successfully guide the film through the occasional narrative lull.

audience

75

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 156,911

My Rating

Movie Info

When the principal (Meryl Streep) of a Bronx Catholic High School accuses a popular priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) of pedophilia, a young nun caught in between the feuding pair becomes hopelessly swept up in the ensuing controversy. 1964, St. Nicholas, the Bronx: The winds of change are sweeping through this tight-knit religious community, and charismatic priest Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is doing his best to adapt by revisiting the school's notoriously strict disciplinary practices.

PG-13,

Drama

John Patrick Shanley

Apr 7, 2009

$33.4M

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Cast

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All Critics (205) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (164) | Rotten (46) | DVD (11)

Doubt works best when the performers are simply allowed to spar.

September 15, 2011 Full Review Source: Time Out New York
Time Out New York
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Empathy is one of the dramatist's slyest weapons and Shanley uses it wisely.

February 5, 2009 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

John Patrick Shanley's Doubt left me less moved than querulously dissatisfied despite the impressive performances of Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis in all the key roles.

December 31, 2008 Full Review Source: New York Observer | Comment (1)
New York Observer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

John Patrick Shanley the writer should never again hire John Patrick Shanley the director.

December 24, 2008 Full Review Source: Detroit News
Detroit News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Thanks to a nearly perfect cast, this provocative glimpse into the Catholic priest child-molestation scandal manages to be deeply disturbing on several levels.

December 23, 2008 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Doubt asks hard questions, and we dutifully squirm in reply.

December 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Streep bursts onto the scene in a shower of meteors and takes control of director John Patrick Shanley's scenario.

August 16, 2011 Full Review Source: East Bay Express
East Bay Express

You don't mess with two Capital-A actors when they decide to play the game of Who Can Yell The Loudest.

April 4, 2011 Full Review Source: Movies.com
Movies.com

As a movie, very little actually happens. It's a lot of discussion about what might have happened or may occur in future, and then the emotional change that signals the curtain to drop and for the class to put down their pencils. The performances are st

December 15, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinerina

An attention-getting bit of drama built on remarkable performances.

October 9, 2009 Full Review Source: Times-Picayune
Times-Picayune

Shanley's continuous straining for that Great Unknown is undercut by tidy characters and cinematic deficiencies

August 26, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion
CinePassion

It might be a bit of a slow starter, and it definitely takes its time allowing the story to unravel slowly. However, it's definitely worth a look, and a bit of discussion.

June 14, 2009 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures
7M Pictures

If it's a less than perfect film, it's only because there may not be as much doubt for some as for others.

June 14, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
Movie Metropolis

Not a cinematic powerhouse, but a good conversation starter

May 14, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Habit | Comment (1)
Movie Habit

The early scenes of Doubt glide past so smoothly that it's easy to miss the seditious currents underneath.

April 7, 2009 Full Review Source: Paste Magazine
Paste Magazine

You get a full-length commentary by writer/ director John Patrick Shanley plus four featurettes.

April 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide
Apollo Guide

The acting talent in evidence here is astounding and nobody, absolutely nobody puts her or his performance ahead of everyone else.

April 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide
Apollo Guide

There is no doubt that Doubt has been given a highly exalted DVD treatment.

April 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine

Five-time Oscar-nominated drama proves ultimately unsatisfying parable, in spite of a taut plotline and four inspired performances.

April 3, 2009 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze
NewsBlaze

If Shanley is condemning any rush to judgment, why is the deck so solidly stacked, not just against Streep's shrew, but all the women? Not to mention dismissing priest pedophilia as a conspiracy theory by mean nuns, considering the alarming public record.

March 30, 2009 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze
NewsBlaze

A cat-and-mouse game of power and posture, played out by two of the finest actors of the moment.

March 21, 2009 Full Review Source: Screenwize
Screenwize

The cast['s]... collective efforts go a long way to mitigating Shanley's pedestrian grasp of film language.

March 2, 2009 Full Review Source: Miss FlickChick
Miss FlickChick

A well acted exploration of desperation, the destructiveness of conviction and the persuasiveness of doubt.

March 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Sight
Cinema Sight

this cast is nothing short of amazing.

March 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Sean the Movie Guy

Audience Reviews for Doubt

As much as I like the actors in this, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Viola Davis are basically the only believable and engaging parts of this. Although occasionally interesting and even gripping, it is generally long, stagey and not very thematically or dramatically satisfying. A play which hasn't really been made cinematic, despite Roger Deakins excellent cinematography. Flawed and reeking of oscar bait.
January 25, 2013
Louis Rogers

Super Reviewer

A different kind of New York tale, set in the early 60's at a little Irish/Italian neighborhood Catholic school where the first Negro has been admitted. The head nun comes to believe the parish priest is not on the up and up which sets the stage for conflict and controversy in the muted halls of the school. An A-class picture with A-class performances heavily concerned with the unspoken.
December 10, 2008
UniversalDreamer

Super Reviewer

    1. Sister Aloysius Beauvier: What happened in the rectory?
    2. Father Brendan Flynn: Happened?
    3. Sister Aloysius Beauvier: Hmm.
    4. Father Brendan Flynn: Nothing happened, I had a talk with the boy.
    5. Sister Aloysius Beauvier: What about?
    6. Father Brendan Flynn: Private matter.
    7. Sister Aloysius Beauvier: He's twelve years old, what could be private?
    – Submitted by Nick P (5 months ago)
    1. Sister Aloysius Beauvier: In ancient Sparta, important matters were decided by who shouted loudest. Fortunately, we are not in ancient Sparta.
    – Submitted by Nandu J (9 months ago)
    1. Father Brendan Flynn: Where's your compassion?
    2. Sister Aloysius Beauvier: Nowhere you can get at it.
    – Submitted by Nandu J (9 months ago)
    1. Sister Aloysius Beauvier: In ancient Sparta, important matters were decided by who shouted loudest. Fortunately, we are not in ancient Sparta.
    – Submitted by Siddharth S (15 months ago)
    1. Father Brendan Flynn: Where's your compassion?
    2. Sister Aloysius Beauvier: Nowhere you can get at it.
    – Submitted by Jarred S (17 months ago)
    1. Father Brendan Flynn: You have no right to act on your own. You have taken vows; obedience being one. You answer to us. You have no right to step outside the church.
    2. Sister Aloysius Beauvier: I will step outside the church! If that's what needs to be done, though the door should shut behind me, I will do what needs to be done!
    – Submitted by Jarred S (17 months ago)

Discussion Forum

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VICTIMS 3 months ago 0

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Foreign Titles

  • Glaubensfrage (DE)
  • Doute (FR)
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