‘Mother’ Venice Review: Noomi Rapace as a Hard, Complex Teresa of Calcutta

The life of Mother Teresa of Calcutta has never been without controversy, despite her worldwide fame and celebrated reputation. In its own way—without directly addressing that debate—the film that captures a key moment in her life also reflects this duality: a woman capable of such generosity that she chose to live in poverty and give everything to the most destitute, yet also someone hard, inflexible, and deeply bound to age-old traditions.

Teresa (Noomi Rapace) lives in Calcutta, running a convent in the city. The film unfolds over the week in which she awaits a decision from the episcopate on whether she will be allowed to establish her own order, one fully devoted to serving the poorest of the poor. To reach that point, however, she must also appoint a successor. Her choice is Sister Agnieszka (Sylvia Hoeks), with whom she shares the closest bond. But soon a problem emerges: Agnieszka is pregnant.

Rather than helping her, Teresa responds with anger and harshness. Since Agnieszka has nowhere else to go, the only apparent solution for her to remain in the convent is a secret abortion. But Teresa refuses to allow it, even against the tacit opinion of those around her who sense what is happening—including Father Friedrich (Nikola Ristanovski), a progressive priest with whom she has a close relationship, and even a local doctor who discreetly explains the procedure.

This conflict—between Teresa’s desire to establish her own order and her attachment to tradition—remains central throughout a film that makes striking choices in staging and sound. Director Teona Strugar Mitevska avoids the usual conventions of a period drama through an intense visual style, at times placing the camera right on top of the characters, and staging certain sequences in a strikingly modern way. The music choices are equally unconventional, inserting songs by Tool and Black Sabbath into the midst of this religious drama.

The approach may seem unusual, but it largely works, pulling MOTHER away from the predictable trappings of historical drama. Rapace shines in a performance that captures Teresa as a complicated figure—both generous and self-serving—who longs to found her own order not only to serve others but also in pursuit of a measure of personal glory. She is neither hero nor villain, but her treatment of Agnieszka—who gradually loses her mental stability as the days pass—reveals the limits of her empathy and her care for others. In its own way, the film follows her on a journey that leads from the desire for personal achievement toward something closer to genuine selflessness.