As it stands, there isn’t a great deal of real estate when it comes to establishing the central narrative thrust of the film, which sees some psychosexual tension play out between Colin Farrell’s John McBurney and the seminary’s headmistress (Nicole Kidman), teacher (Kirsten Dunst), and oldest student (Elle Fanning).
It’s an understandable quandary — highlighted by the fact that The Beguiled is only 94 minutes long.
Sofia Coppola went with option A.
There isn’t a ton of room available for an important discussion about the horrific events that plagued the nation at that time in American history — so there was a choice between not including it, short-changing it, or having it potentially de-rail the movie.