MOTHER JOAN OF THE ANGELS

The story takes place in and around a seventeenth century convent in Smolensk. A priest, Father Józef Suryn, arrives at a small inn for a night's rest. He has been sent to investigate a case of demonic possession at the nearby convent after the local priest, Father Garniec, was burnt at the stake for sexually tempting the nuns. The next day, Father Suryn sets out for the convent, where he meets the abbess, Mother Joan, said to be the most possessed of all the nuns. Already four priests before Father Suryn have tried to exorcise Mother Joan, but without success. The villagers at the inn are curious about the convent's troubled past and do everything to keep track of its developing story, with the stableman, Kaziuk, leading Father Suryn around and asking the only non-possessed nun Sister Małgorzata for stories when she makes her nightly visits to the inn.

After Father Suryn learns that Mother Joan is possessed by eight demons, he and several other priests, during an exorcism, manage to exorcise the abbess. She and the other nuns appear cured. Soon after, however, the demonic possession increases. Mother Joan tries to seduce Father Suryn, begging him to make her a saint. In the meantime Sister Małgorzata leaves the convent and becomes Margareth after falling in love with Chrz�

szczewski, a squire who visits the inn.

After a failed meeting takes place between Father Suryn and the local rabbi, the priest re-enters the convent and receives Mother Joan's demons through his love for her. At night, reasoning that the only way to save the abbess is by doing Satan's bidding, Father Suryn grabs an axe and kills Kaziuk and Juraj, another stableman. The next morning, Margareth is abandoned by the squire, and finds Father Suryn holding the bloodied axe. The priest instructs her to go to Mother Joan and tell her of the sacrifice he made for her salvation in the name of love. Margareth runs back to the convent and cries with Mother Joan, neither saying a word.

Father Suryn, believing he must commit a grave act to save Mother Joan, murders two villagers and instructs Margareth to inform Mother Joan of his sacrifice, leaving both women in silent grief.

The ending underscores the film’s central conflict between faith, self-sacrifice, and the destructive nature of obsession. Father Suryn's drastic action in the name of salvation blurs the line between sainthood and damnation, leaving the convent’s spiritual wounds unresolved and highlighting the ambiguous cost of redemption.