The Miracle Club (12A)

Chrissie Ahearn arrives in the town of Ballygar from Boston for the funeral of her mother Maureen, 40 years after she was banished by friends and family as a pregnant teenager. Her return coincides with a pilgrimage to Lourdes organised by Father Dermot Byrne. Chrissie unexpectedly honours her mother's dying wish and gatecrashes the excursion. Old wounds slowly heal as the women reflect on the past and spend quality time together.

LondonNet Film Review

The Miracle Club (12A) Film Review from LondonNet

Three generations of women seek spiritual enlightenment and forgiveness in a tender drama, directed by Thaddeus O‘Sullivan, which possesses the heart-warming cosiness and charm of an episode of Call The Midwife transplanted from London’s East End to the suburbs of 1967 Dublin. There are no miracles performed on screen by a stellar ensemble including Laura Linney, Kathy Bates and Dame Maggie Smith, who deftly navigate thorny issues of miscarriage, bereavement and terminal illness with compassion, sensitivity and dewy-eyed sisterly solidarity…

As a kindly priest observes to one of his doubting flock after she learns there have only been 62 documented miracles in a sacred French town since 1858: “You don’t come to Lourdes for a miracle. You come for the strength to go on when there is no miracle.” The strength of O’Sullivan’s picture lies in casting Oscar-winning and -nominated talent alongside rising stars and applying a light touch to more challenging subject matter rather than shamelessly targeting our tear ducts. Solid production design evokes an era of staunch resolves and so-called traditional gender roles when menfolk went out to work while women multitasked caring for babies, tending the home and serving a wholesome home-cooked meal at the end of the day.

Chrissie Ahearn (Linney) arrives in the town of Ballygar from Boston for the funeral of her mother Maureen, 40 years after she was banished by friends and family as a pregnant teenager. Her sharp-tongued cousin Eileen Dunne (Bates) greets her return with withering insults and Maureen’s good friend Lily Fox (Smith) is equally hostile, having warned her son Dermot to steer clear of Chrissie many years ago. The return of the prodigal daughter coincides with a pilgrimage to Lourdes organised by Father Dermot Byrne (Mark O’Halloran).

Eileen will go despite fierce resistance from her husband Frank (Stephen Rea), having recently discovered a small lump in her breast. Lily is keen to visit the Massabielle Grotto, where the Virgin Mary reportedly appeared to a local woman. “I’ve always wanted to go… I’m running out of chances,” she trills. Their neighbour Dolly Hennessy (Agnes O’Casey) will also be on the coach with her young son Daniel (Eric D Smith). She is praying the revered bath waters will encourage her boy to utter his first words. Chrissie unexpectedly honours her mother’s dying wish and gatecrashes the excursion. Old wounds slowly heal as the women reflect on the past and spend quality time together.

The Miracle Club is an endearingly old-fashioned portrait of community rallying in the face of adversity, threaded with earthy humour and more than a hint of blarney. Irish accents that waver when characters raise their voices do not distract greatly from universally appealing performances and director O’Sullivan does not rush inevitable scenes of reconciliation. Slow and steady wins the race.

– Sarah Lee