Servants

Czechoslovakia in the 1980s. Two young friends, Juraj and Michal, arrive at the Faculty of Theology in Bratislava. The fact that life at the priests' school is strictly regimented doesn't bother them - as the prior puts it: "We're not here to be happy." There are other, darker things going on that threaten the lives of the priests. Because the school of priests is kowtowing to the communist regime and individual clergymen consider this incompatible with the faith, they organize themselves in hiding. They smuggled in banned books, including papal letters and biographies of saints, informed the Vatican and "Radio Free Europe" about the crimes against the faithful and even ordained an underground priest. Juraj takes part in this resistance, which he has to keep secret from his best friend and confidant. After a seditious note is posted on the bulletin board, state security raids the Faculty of Theology. The dangerously tense situation escalates when the student priests go on hunger strike.