1964年,美国纽约布朗克斯区,圣尼古拉斯天主学校。修女阿洛伊修斯•贝维尔(Meryl Streep 梅丽尔•斯特里普 饰)令行禁止,教条严明,为学生们所畏惧;而新来的布伦丹•弗林的神父(Philip Seymour Hoffman 菲利普•塞默•霍夫曼 饰)则态度和蔼,处事开明,受到学生们的喜爱。 这期间,弗林尤其关心学校内有史以来第一位的黑人学生唐纳德•米勒(Joseph Foster 饰)。某天,詹姆斯修女(Amy Adams 饰)将唐纳德的奇怪表现报告给贝维尔修女。贝维尔认定弗林正与男孩发展不正当的关系,她决心不惜一切代价制止。然而事实究竟怎样?It's 1964, St. Nicholas in the Bronx. A charismatic priest, Father Flynn, is trying to upend the school's strict customs, which have long been fiercely guarded by Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the iron-gloved Principal who believes in the power of fear-based discipline. The winds of political change are sweeping through the community, and indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller. But when Sister James, a hopeful innocent, shares with Sister Aloysius her guilt-inducing suspicion that Father Flynn is paying too much personal attention to Donald, Sister Aloysius sets off on a personal crusade to unearth the truth and to expunge Flynn from the school. Now, without a shard of proof besides her moral certainty, Sister Aloysius locks into a battle of wills with Father Flynn which threatens to tear apart the community with irrevocable consequences.