An Act of Confession

An Act of Confession (1972)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Sister Beatrice (Kim Durey) is preparing for her life as a nun but she is haunted by various sexual visions and a burning desire that might conflict with what she's trying to do.

Anthony Spinelli's AN ACT OF CONFESSION is certainly a film that would send many into fury and rage so I guess it's a great thing that not too many people know about it. What is known about it is some outrageous and rather shocking scenes towards the end of the picture, which I'll get to in a moment. It should be noted that there are two versions of the film out there, a softcore and a hardcore one. The one I watched ran 59-minutes and was missing most of the hardcore footage, although that "ending" is intact and there are some masturbating scenes.

What you've basically got here is what would be considered a Nunsploitation picture. You've got a young woman feeling the pressure of becoming a nun because of the sexual feeling that she is experiencing. What I enjoyed most about the movie was the soft-focused cinematography, which certainly made the film play out like a dream. There's no doubt that Spinelli creates a certain atmosphere that really helps the film feel like a fever dream. With that being said, I thought the weakest stuff were the sex scenes as well as the lead actress who just came across as being really boring to me.

As far as the controversy, well, it's easy to see why many people, even those who are fans of pornos, might be offended by the material. It's funny but there are a lot of people who really hate when religion is mocked and that's certainly what happens here even though the title card tells you that they aren't trying to do that. All of the nun's desires come to a scene where Jesus walks up to her and I won't spoil what happens but I'd say it wouldn't sit well with many.