The Movie "Doubt" V. the Film

There were a few changes that were made to make a smooth transition from stage to film, but there were many things that stayed the same. The plot of both versions was basically the same. The play and film centers on Father Flynn, Sister James, and Sister Aloysius. Sister Aloysius is convinced that Father Flynn has acted inappropriately around the male students at the school, and Sister James is the naïve young teacher that wants to see the best in everyone and tries her hardest to believe that the allegations are not true. The plot of both stories shows how Sister Aloysius tries to find out whether or not Father Flynn has been inappropriate with one boy in particular, Donald Muller, who also happens to be the only black student at the school.
The play begins with Father Flynn delivering a sermon to his congregation. The topic of his sermon is doubt. He makes a compelling argument that not only does everyone go through periods of doubt about different things, but it is doubt that holds everyone and everything together. His exact words were: “Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty. When you are lost, you are not alone” (Shanley 6). There are many different topics that Father Flynn could have been talking about, and many people that he could have been speaking to directly. He could have been speaking to himself, about whether or not he is doing the right thing with Donald; he could have been speaking to Donald, about feelings of uncertainty or confusion that he may be having; or, he could have simply been preaching a sermon that he had done many times before, and it just so happened to fit in perfectly with the topic of the play and what Sister Aloysius was struggling with herself.
The movie version, however, begins the film at the school, and we see Father Flynn in his element with all of the students. There could have been any number of reasons why the film started this way. It could have begun that way to show Father Flynn in a more