Mother Vera review – complex and highly affecting

Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson’s arresting portrait of a former drug addict turned Orthodox nun with a deep love for horses.

Inner turmoil and spiritual crisis, set against the austere black-and-white backdrop of the monastic environment, provides the context for Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson’s intimate documentary portrait. Mother Vera — formerly known as Olga — has lived for 20 years in a hidden Orthodox monastery surrounded by the deep snow of a Belarusian forest, devoting her life to the service of others. 

In confessional-style voice-over narration, Olga tells us of the turbulent past which brought her to the convent. The frankness and vulnerability with which she discusses heroin addiction and mental health struggles lend a great deal of humanity to the film’s stark visuals, providing truly unique insight into the woman beneath the habit. But Mother Vera is equally powerful in everything it leaves unsaid — Embleton and Tomlinson embrace silence and a slow-paced, drifting narrative, pausing with Olga to enjoy the solitude and peace that she finds in meticulously grooming the monastery’s horses with remarkable tenderness. 

Mother Vera is visually striking; the camera closes in on Olga’s hands holding rosary beads, monochromatic bare winter trees, and the convent’s imposing religious iconography. The film resists easy resolution, offering instead a complex and highly affecting opportunity to step into the inner world of a woman constantly searching for spiritual freedom.

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