The Letters

The Letters is a drama that follows the life of Mother Teresa over several decades. The story tracks her journey from joining the Sisters of Loreto in Dublin and traveling to Darjeeling to establishing the Missionaries of Charity in the slums of Calcutta. While focusing on her humanitarian efforts and her receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize, the film uses personal correspondence written to her spiritual advisor, Father Celeste van Exem, to explore her private struggles. These letters reveal a sense of vulnerability and a feeling of abandonment by God that contrasted with her public image.

Written and directed by William Riead, the film features Juliet Stevenson in the title role alongside Max von Sydow as Celeste van Exem and Rutger Hauer as Benjamin Praagh. The production involved Big Screen Productions, Freestyle Releasing, and Cinema West Films in the United States. Audience reception was mixed, with a 6.3 rating on IMDb from 1,200 votes and a 5.7 rating on TMDB from 28 votes. These scores are higher than the rating from film critics, who gave the movie a 4.4 based on 35 reviews.