The Magdalene Sisters

R

Released Aug 15, 2003

1h 59m

Drama

List

91%

Tomatometer

150 Reviews

89%

Audience Score

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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Critics Consensus

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

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Anthony Lane

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

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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

william k

Excellent, harrowing depiction of the crimes depicted by the Church is a to-the point polemic, righteous, unflinching and often gut-wrenching.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Jason T

A heart breaking film. Very well acted. The low budget kept me from giving it a 5 star film. But never the less a truly great movie

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/09/19

Full Review

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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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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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