This acclaimed film traces the relationship between a death-row inmate & the local nun to whom he turns for spiritual guidance in the days leading up to his scheduled execution Matthew Poncelet (Sean Penn) has been convicted of the rape & murder of two young lovers & is awaiting execution Susan Sarandon plays Sister Helen Prejean a nun who has devoted herself to God & to helping the less fortunate Prejean faces a moral crisis as she tries to reconcile her anti-death penalty views with the truth of Poncelet's actions & the pain felt by the victim's families