Why nun-goth comedy Little Sister can be enjoyed by nuns and goths

In the 2008-set comedy-drama Little Sister, a young nun named Colleen (Addison Timlin) returns home to see her Iraq war veteran brother (Keith Poulson) — and, as it turns out, to revisit her past as a goth. Given that description, you might well assume the film makes mock of both religious folk and Marilyn Manson fans. In fact it does neither.

Clark’s sympathetic attitude towards the film’s religious characters — which include another nun played by Re-Animator and You’re Next actress Barabara Crampton — is also rooted in the director’s own life. “My mother is an Episcopal priest,” says Clark. “I’m coming off of a movie (2013’s White Reindeer), where it opens with a murder and an hour in there’s an orgy scene. People would be like, ‘Well, what are you making next?’ I’d go, ‘I’m making a movie about a nun.’ They’d be like, ‘Oh, she goes to an orgy or something crazy?’ ‘No, no, none of that.’ My Mom has seen it. She’s organizing a little screening of it at the church!”

Little Sister is distributed by Forager Films, whose founders include director Joe Swanberg. The movie is currently screening in select cities and is also available to watch via Amazon and iTunes.

You can see the film’s trailer below.