Movies Like Novitiate (2017)

Novitiate is a 2017 drama film from Margaret Betts with a MovieMagicScore of 6.4/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Sister Act and Priest.

Drama

Sister Act

1992

A Reno singer witnesses a mob murder and the cops stash her in a nunnery to protect her from the mob's hitmen. The mother superior does not trust her, and takes steps to limit her influence on the other nuns. Eventually the singer rescues the failing choir and begins helping with community projects, which gets her an interview on TV—and identification by the mob.

6.8

MagicScore

Priest

1995

The deeply held religious convictions of an idealistic young priest are challenged when he must face extraordinary events within his own congregation.

6.3

MagicScore

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit

1993

Deloris Van Cartier is again asked to don the nun's habit to help a run-down Catholic school, presided over by Mother Superior. And if trying to reach out to a class full of uninterested students wasn't bad enough, the sisters discover that the school is due to be closed by the unscrupulous chief of a local authority.

6.4

MagicScore

The Godfather Part III

1990

In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia don, Michael Corleone seeks forgiveness for his sins while taking a young protege under his wing.

7.4

MagicScore

The Club

2015

In a secluded house in a small seaside town live four unrelated men and the woman who tends to the house and their needs. All former priests, they have been sent to this quiet exile to purge the sins of their pasts, the separation from their communities the worst form of punishment by the Church. They keep to a strict daily schedule devoid of all temptation and spontaneity, each moment a deliberate effort to atone for their wrongdoings.

6.9

MagicScore

Dark Habits

1983

After her drug pusher boyfriend overdoses on heroin, a cabaret singer finds refuge from the authorities in a convent for fallen women.

6.6

MagicScore

Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Movie

1999

In a loose retelling of the Revolutionary Girl Utena TV series, Utena Tenjou arrives at Ohtori Academy, only to be immediately swept up in a series of duels for the hand of her classmate Anthy Himemiya and the power she supposedly holds. At the same time, Utena reunites with Touga Kiryuu, a friend from her childhood who seems to know the secrets behind the duels. Utena must discover those secrets for herself, before the power that rules Ohtori claims her and her friends, new and old.

7.4

MagicScore

Mermaids

1990

Fifteen-year-old Charlotte Flax is tired of her wacky mom moving their family to a different town any time she feels it is necessary. When they move to a small Massachusetts town and Mrs. Flax begins dating a shopkeeper, Charlotte and her 9-year-old sister, Kate, hope that they can finally settle down. But when Charlotte's attraction to an older man gets in the way, the family must learn to accept each other for who they truly are.

6.7

MagicScore

Scrubbers

1982

Inmates fight, pair off, try suicide and attempt escape at a British reform school for girls.

5.0

MagicScore

#10

The Miseducation of Cameron Post

2018

Pennsylvania, 1993. After getting caught with another girl, teenager Cameron Post is sent to a conversion therapy center run by the strict Dr. Lydia Marsh and her brother, Reverend Rick, whose treatment consists in repenting for feeling “same sex attraction.” Cameron befriends fellow sinners Jane and Adam, thus creating a new family to deal with the surrounding intolerance.

6.9

MagicScore

#11

Requiem

2006

Michaela, an epileptic, enrolls in college to study education. She goes off her medication and soon begins hearing voices and seeing apparitions that tell her to avoid religious objects, although she is devoutly Roman Catholic. One priest scoffs at the idea that Michaela could be possessed by demons, but a younger pastor arranges an exorcism for the young woman.

6.6

MagicScore

#12

Viridiana

1962

Viridiana is preparing to start her life as a nun when she is sent, somewhat unwillingly, to visit her aging uncle, Don Jaime. He supports her; but the two have met only once. Jaime thinks Viridiana resembles his dead wife. Viridiana has secretly despised this man all her life and finds her worst fears proven when Jaime grows determined to seduce his pure niece. Viridiana becomes undone as her uncle upends the plans she had made to join the convent.

7.6

MagicScore

#13

Lilies of the Field

1963

An unemployed construction worker heading out west stops at a remote farm in the desert to get water when his car overheats. The farm is being worked by a group of East European Catholic nuns, headed by the strict mother superior, who believes the man has been sent by God to build a much needed church in the desert.

7.2

MagicScore

#14

Benedetta

2021

A 17th-century nun becomes entangled in a forbidden lesbian affair with a novice. But it is Benedetta's shocking religious visions that threaten to shake the Church to its core.

6.6

MagicScore

#15

Agnes of God

1985

When a dead newborn is found, wrapped in bloody sheets, in the bedroom wastebasket of a young novice, psychiatrist Martha Livingston is called in to determine if the seemingly innocent novice, who knows nothing of sex or birth, is competent enough to stand trial for the murder of the baby.

6.2

MagicScore

#16

The Two Popes

2019

Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict. Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church.

7.5

MagicScore

#17

Conclave

2024

After the unexpected death of the Pope, Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with managing the covert and ancient ritual of electing a new one. Sequestered in the Vatican with the Catholic Church’s most powerful leaders until the process is complete, Lawrence finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could lead to its downfall.

7.2

MagicScore

#18

The Shoes of the Fisherman

1968

Ukrainian bishop Kiril Lakota, a political prisoner in a Soviet gulag for twenty years, is unexpectedly released and sent to the Vatican, where, upon the sudden death of the Pope, leader of the Catholic Church, he must face a challenging destiny that will put the future of the entire world in his hands.

6.7

MagicScore

#19

The Rite

2011

Seminary student Michael Kovak reluctantly attends exorcism school at the Vatican. While he’s in Rome, Michael meets an unorthodox priest who introduces him to the darker side of his faith, uncovering the devil’s reach even to one of the holiest places on Earth.

6.1

MagicScore

#20

The Apparition

2018

Jacques Mayano, a French journalist who has lived a traumatic experience, is recruited by the Vatican to be part of a task force that must investigate the veracity of a supernatural apparition allegedly happened in a small French village.

6.0

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Novitiate?

The top films similar to Novitiate by MovieMagicScore are Sister Act (6.8), Priest (6.3), Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (6.4). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Novitiate worth watching?

Novitiate holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.4/10 from 179 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Novitiate?

Novitiate (2017) is a drama film directed by Margaret Betts, starring Margaret Qualley, Melissa Leo, Julianne Nicholson.

Where can I find more recommendations like Novitiate?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more drama recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Sister Act Movies like Priest Movies like Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit Movies like The Godfather Part III Movies like The Club Movies like Dark Habits

About movies like Novitiate

This ranked list pairs Novitiate (2017), a drama film from Margaret Betts, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Margaret Qualley take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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