In the still of a Russian Orthodox convent on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives, Mother Ksenya, a headstrong eighty-three-year-old nun, faces her final challenge. Amid dusty relics and rote workaday labors, she seeks to prove herself worthy of her final vow: the vow of silence, known as the “Great Schema.” The film immerses the audience in the considered pace of convent life, which is marked by stately rites, swinging censers, and gorgeous minor-chord harmonies. Ksenya leafs through old photographs and pours out her story of childhood in pre-WWII Estonia. But rather than dwelling on the physical and emotional deprivations she has suffered, she narrates braided threads from her remarkable past with piercing, self-critical reflection, and with a devilish delight in defying expectations. The result is a fully rounded portrait of a most singular woman.  MM