In a candlelit bathroom, teenage Birdie delicately anoints her body with blood, painting bloody wings on the mirror at her shoulders. She smiles.
At an imposing, nearly-empty convent perched on the edge of a frozen lake, Birdie is unceremoniously placed into the care of the nuns by her grandmother for protection. At first feeling frightened and overwhelmed, Birdie is slowly drawn into the dull daily ritual of the order, under the watchful gaze of the Mother Superior.
Outside life beckons when she meets Julia, the confident, spirited maintenance girl, inspiring a growing infatuation. But privately, Birdie can’t turn away from her fascination with the gory and whimsical hallucinations that plague her. Suffering a miscarriage, Birdie thinks the tiny dead fetus is a gift from God. Christening it Ignatius, she keeps her new friend in a jar for company and creates a small altar in gratitude.
Birdie’s imagination spurs her on to a spiritual quest to discover the source of her visions. Is she being called to sainthood, or is this a sign of something dark inside herself? The convent holds ghosts of nuns who’ve met untimely deaths, each influencing her with manipulative agendas, Are they calling Birdie to the same fate? As she continues to bleed heavily, she collects the blood and adds it to the shrine for Ignatius. Sneaking away in her free hours, her relationship with Julia grows more passionate.
Not knowing what to make of the newest recruit, the other nuns treat Birdie with concern, except for the young novice, Prudy, who suspects Birdie may be hiding some holy secret. A newly found ‘saint’ could be the saving of the convent or unwelcome competition for Prudy’s pious ambitions. Birdie begins to infuse the idea of sainthood with the powers of comic book heroes. She decorates the statues of the church with masks and capes to honour their powers.
The announcement of the convent’s imminent closure sets off a delicate chain of events: Birdie must choose to pursue love and an uncertain future or surrender to the call of her saintly visions.
Direction: Elizabeth E. Schuch
Script: Anami Tara Shucart, Elizabeth E. Schuch
Cast: Ilirida Memedovski, Suzan Crowley, Kathryn Browning, Kathryn Haynes, Kitty Hall, Holly Stanfield, Kati Brazda, Kymberly Mellen, Rose Fawkes, Danielle Webber, Kristin Singer
Original Title: The Book of Birdie
Original Language: English
Subtitles: No subtitles
Film Production Country: United Kingdom
Production Company:
Melancholy Star