Doubt

In 1964 at a Catholic church in The Bronx, New York, Father Brendan Flynn gives a sermon on the nature of doubt, noting that like faith, doubt can be a unifying force. Sister Aloysius, the strict principal of the church's parish school, becomes concerned when she sees a boy pull away from Flynn in the school courtyard. She instructs her Sisters to be alert to suspicious activity in the school.

Sister James, a young and naive teacher, receives a request for Donald Miller, an altar boy and the school's only African American student, to meet Flynn in the rectory. Donald returns to class visibly upset, and James notices the smell of alcohol on his breath. Later, she sees Flynn placing an undershirt in Donald's locker. She reports her suspicions to Aloysius.