In the foothills of the Himalayas, a group of missionary nuns, headed up by the impenetrable Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr), attempt to open a convent. But their attempts are thwarted – and their vows challenged – by both the remote, foreboding environment, and the arrival of a British agent (David Farrar) whose presence sends young Sister Ruth (Kathleen Byron) towards delirium.
Puncturing the repressed norms of '40s British cinema to grapple with faith and desire amidst a ravishingly recreated mountain setting, this delirious melodrama may be the most fierce (and, according to Michael Powell, the most erotic) of Powell and Pressburger's films.
