Denis Diderot's controversial novel, LA RELIGIEUSE, is brought to the screen undiminished in either power or scope by Jacques Rivette, one of the key directors of the French New Wave. The film follows the plight of an illegitimate child, Suzanne (Karina), after she is sent to a nunnery by her mother in order to avoid disgracing the family. There, Suzanne, who can't stand the sterility and rigid order, encounters clerical authority figures who are, by turns, benevolent, sadistic, and lecherous. Unfortunately, the ironically saintly Suzanne finds life outside the monastery even more horrifying.