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The Magdalene Sisters

Play trailer Poster for The Magdalene Sisters R Released Aug 15, 2003 1h 59m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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91% Tomatometer 149 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
In 1964, three teenage Irish girls are sent to a Magdalene asylum, an archaic home for "fallen women," though their crimes aren't criminal. Rose (Dorothy Duffy) is pregnant out of wedlock, Bernadette (Nora-Jane Noone) has been caught flirting with a boy at school, and Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff) is sentenced for having been raped by a family member. There, the girls perform hard labor supervised by cruel nuns, led by the sneering Sister Bridget (Geraldine McEwan) -- and dream of escape.
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The Magdalene Sisters

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Critics Consensus

A typical women-in-prision film made untypical because it's based on real events.

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Critics Reviews

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Anthony Lane The New Yorker You come away from the movie not just convinced but cowed. Nov 21, 2022 Full Review David Rooney Variety This drama about a shocking reality from recent history balances a light touch with searing intensity and a sense of moral outrage. Mar 11, 2008 Full Review Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader Grimly believable. Mar 11, 2008 Full Review Kat Halstead Common Sense Media The Magdalene Sisters is an intense watch, but one that allows its central characters a sense of hope and power, even amid the atrocities. Rated: 4/5 Dec 8, 2021 Full Review Felix Vasquez Jr. Cinema Crazed A disturbing, heartbreaking and gripping portrait of religious paranoia manifested through violence. Apr 29, 2009 Full Review Philip French Observer (UK) The movie is an indictment of systems that perpetuate oppression and exploitation by making the administrators believe their every cruel act is justified and by compelling complicity in victims and bystanders. Mar 11, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Emilia P Beautiful no other words needed Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/11/25 Full Review Marla L Any hardship movie full of sadness and torture and religion are hard to watch but much like with any Holocaust movie, it's so very important that you do watch it no matter how painful it is. Watch it. Feel it. Soak it in. Pass it on to others. It's our history. The human condition. Man's inhumanity to man with the permission of the Catholic Church and in this case the house for young girls/women who had sex before marriage, were flirtatious, became pregnant or raped by a family member or a stranger, the women were deemed much like they are by other cultures and religions, as deviants. And this is our history. This is something Ireland should own up to and admit and expose. And this culture spread throughout the world over to North America and Europe. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/23/25 Full Review Joanne G This is the hardest movie to watch but none more necessary. The actresses in this film are fantastic and are called upon to go to some dark places. It's a chilling film about cruelty. It focuses on the placement of young women into slavery supported by government and church who are raised to become the next generation of perpetrators. It broke my heart. Yet it's a part of history. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/14/23 Full Review Audience Member wow. Just...wow. really makes one question one's childhood. that Power Corrupts. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Michael M Probably the best movie depiction based on The Christian Nun Laundries back in the 60's. What's shocking about it is that it's actually true. More movies should be made about this! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/13/22 Full Review Audience Member An excellent film that is based some what on what happened in the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland. At times it's hard to watch as it makes you rage over what the women are put through but well worth watching. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Magdalene Sisters

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Cast & Crew

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Peter Mullan

Director

Geraldine McEwan

Sister Bridget

Anne-Marie Duff

Margaret

Nora Jane Noone

Bernadette

Dorothy Duffy

Rose

Eileen Walsh

Crispina

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The Magdalene Sisters

A scene from the film "The Magdalene Sisters." A scene from the film "The Magdalene Sisters." View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis In 1964, three teenage Irish girls are sent to a Magdalene asylum, an archaic home for "fallen women," though their crimes aren't criminal. Rose (Dorothy Duffy) is pregnant out of wedlock, Bernadette (Nora-Jane Noone) has been caught flirting with a boy at school, and Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff) is sentenced for having been raped by a family member. There, the girls perform hard labor supervised by cruel nuns, led by the sneering Sister Bridget (Geraldine McEwan) -- and dream of escape.
Director
Peter Mullan
Producer
Frances Higson
Screenwriter
Peter Mullan
Distributor
Miramax Films
Production Co
Film Council, Momentum Pictures, Scottish Screen
Rating
R (Language|Cruelty|Nudity|Sexual Content|Violence)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 15, 2003, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 14, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$4.9M
Runtime
1h 59m
Sound Mix
Surround
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