Refusing an arranged marriage, young aristocrat Carmela is sent to a convent. Her arrival intensifies the power struggle between the debauched nun Elizabeth, and the stern but evil Mother Superior, as both are smitten by Carmela's beauty.

Carmela is a young aristocrat who refuses an arranged marriage and is sent to a convent. Her arrival intensifies the power struggle between the decadent nun Elizabeth, whose influential family maintain her debauched sapphic lifestyle inside the cloister, and the stern but evil Mother Superior, as both women are smitten by Carmela's beauty. Often imitated but never equaled, this elegant film denotes both the origin of Nunsploitation cinema and its artistic peak.

Refusing to accept her parents' decision to marry a wealthy heir, 17-year-old Carmela finds herself forced to accept her fate: become a nun and the bride of the Lord. Now, behind the thick stone walls of the strict convent, the new novice has thirty gruelling days of soul-cleansing and poor nourishment to learn the rules of the order by heart and pass a purifying test. However, as beautiful Carmela catches the attention of the cruel Mother Superior and the debauched Sister Elizabeth, unholy carnal desires take over. Is intimacy between women the nunnery's well-hidden secret?—Nick Riganas