 Streep 's other film of 2008 was Doubt featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman , Amy Adams , and Viola Davis . A drama revolving around the stern principal nun ( Streep ) of a Bronx Catholic school in 1964 who brings charges of pedophilia against a popular priest ( Hoffman ) , the film became a moderate box office success , but was hailed by many critics as one of the best of 2008 . The film received five Academy Awards nominations , for its four lead actors and for Shanley 's script . Ebert , who awarded the film the full four stars , highlighted Streep 's caricature of a nun , who " hates all inroads of the modern world " , while Kelly Vance of The East Bay Express remarked : " It 's thrilling to see a pro like Streep step into an already wildly exaggerated role and then ramp it up a few notches just for the sheer hell of it . Grim , red @-@ eyed , deathly pale Sister Aloysius may be the scariest nun of all time . " 
