The Miracle Club
Although the ads for this movie make it look quite twee and Bally Kissangel like, it’s actually a deeper women’s movie, about disability and neurodiversity, family, forgiveness, reconciliation and faith. Also for a rare moment a portrayal of a kind, good hearted, community orientated priest and religious person who is normal and not creepy, abusive, crazy or weird. Refreshing!
Whilst not being a Catholic personally, there’s a lot to appreciate here, for anyone. It’s the 1960’s in Ireland and through clever camera work we follow the lives of several woman. So much of this movie is about Dame Maggie Smith’s face — her reactions and her body postures; it’s incredibly nuanced, vulnerable and sweet — sometimes all at the same time.
Noticeably the men in the movie are not at the local church and its events, apart from weddings and funerals. It’s the women (and a smattering of old men). Maybe the men are working, maybe hiding in the pub. Like Barbie, this is a old-style woman focused movie — their journey, their faith, their battles. Mostly they are all longing to go to Lourdes to get some peace and resolution in their lives, for some to actively seek and hear from God, which the men in their lives begrudge and attempt to actively block them from going, due to their own unbelief or selfishness or fecklessness. How will they cope? How can they leave them alone? But the women are wily — creating leaks and plumbing disaster distractions for their men and just simply going in spite of the obstacles and conflicts in their ways.
Having battled their men and their family lives, the three women — Maggie Smith’s Lily, Kathy Bates’s Eileen and delightful Agnes O’Casey’s Dolly with her son bus to Lourdes. At the same time Laura Linney’s Chrissie has returned from America for her mother’s funeral and unexpectedly decides to join the trip, which means dealing with a whole heap of personal hostility from Lily and Eileen for sins of the past. Somewhere in here too is national treasure Brenda Fricker! Meantime Marcas Ó hAllmhuráin/Mark O’Halloran’s kind and compassionate Father Dermot Byrne has to keep the peace, calm everyone down, organise the rooms and activities and referee snark amongst the women. His forgiveness of Eileen’s excruciating attack on him is exemplary, although we see the shock and hurt in his expression.
Powerfully we see the outworking of resentment, judgement, historic grudge holding, forgiveness and reconciliation over time. This is alongside faith and doubt — have come full of expectation, Eileen (hiding a secret illness) despairs and doubts, which launches her into full attack against Chrissie and Father Dermot. Chrissie counterattacks, revealing her betrayal at her suspected betrayal of their friendship and her own feelings of guilt and rejection. Lily’s pain increases, as does Dolly’s over her possibly ASC or perhaps choosing not to speak son and Chrissie increasingly wonders why she has to be a historical verbal punchbag for a whole gossipy community! Chrissie is also slandered — she ran away from her mother, heartlessly, they say, and now seems to be making play for the too handsome priest.
But this isn’t that story. Over time, Eileen confesses her bitterness and jealousy about her friends as well as her love for her daughter, put upon Cathy (Hazel Doupe) and family (and her explosive anger at God for not giving her one of the official 62 miracles since the 1850's). Lily repents of her hard heart which contributed to Chrissie’s banishment rather than heartless running and potential loss of her son and a grandchild, of making Chrissie’s life really hard and leading to some painful life choices; Dolly confesses her not wanting a child and fearing that she contributed to her son’s condition. Little by little, in complex and complicated ways, the women start to forgive, reconcile, accept and love each other, dealing with their own losses and grief.
Beautifully captured is Chrissie’s growing friendship with Dolly’s son and her acceptance and love of him as he is. There’s a wonderful moment when rather than forcing her son to speak, she urges Dolly to look at him and allow him to speak to her in his way. There’s also the way that he speaks through his focus on the beauty and wonder of a snow globe.
Juxtaposed are the feckless men learning to shop (pre-carrier bags) and full-time child care. It’s a shame that they slip into cliches here — literal burnt offerings for dinner and hopeless nappy application as clearly washing clothes has not been mastered either. One husband stays safe in bed with the radio and biscuits for company! creating an early chill and lounge wear culture. Yet at the same time, Eileen’s family hilariously mock their dad Frank (Stephen Rea) and Mark McKenna’s George learns to repent of his hostile words and emotional control of his wife and show love, as well as asking for forgiveness. There’s sweet banter between Eileen and Frank on her return. We also see lots of examples of George being a good dad and Lily’s husband Tommy (Niall Buggy) being kind and helpful. Maybe the real miracle is that no-one dies while the women are away!
Maudlin historical drama this is not as there’s a painful and awkward moment when Chrissie comforts Dolly through sharing abortion information. Ergo she didn’t ‘damage’ her baby because she did it wrongly. Rather than being an air punching moment it’s terrible and sad, and brings healing amongst the group. There’s so much in here about women’s bodies (especially older women’s bodies), about faith even when we doubt or don’t understand, and how to continue even if there isn’t an instant cure-all miracle, about how we see each other and attempt (often wrongly) to read each other’s minds! Also how damaging gossip and rumour can be. Another beautiful moment is Chrissie’s secret letter from her mother apologising for the way she treated her and asking for forgiveness and reconciliation — it’s lovely.
Enjoy the journey, thinking about lived out faith (although they don’t do a lot of that — it’s more places and doing and doubt) and how to live with the doubts and disappointments. Enjoy too the gorgeous 1960’s fashions and hair! Don’t expect a ‘chocolate box’ movie, it’s themes do hint at systematic abuse and mistreatment of pregnant young women by elements of the Catholic Church and Irish society historically.
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