Brilliant and cruel, but Mullan’s one-sided horror story never delves into the ascetic doctrine explained by Gregory of Nazianzus as “the pleasure of no pleasure.”
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09/12/03
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The Magdalene Sisters (2003)
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Reviews Counted:143
Fresh:129
Rotten:14
Average Rating:7.6/10
Consensus: A typical women-in-prision film made untypical because it's based on real events.
Theatrical Release:Aug 1, 2003 Limited
Box Office: $4,685,516
Synopsis: Peter Mullen's shocking drama THE MAGDALENE SISTERS is based on real events that took place in Ireland from the 1960s until 1996 when an estimated 30,000 young women, considered by their families... [More]
Starring: Geraldine McEwan, Dorothy Duffy, Anne-Marie Duff, Eileen Walsh
Director: Peter Mullan
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Reviews for The Magdalene Sisters
The Magdalene Sisters isn't perfect, but it sheds light on a story that needed to be told.
03/05/05
One of the year's most powerful films and an absolute must-see.
08/01/03
The film’s strength lies not in the harrowing crimes of its namesakes, but in the feisty spirit of the maltreated girls whose determination to escape their Dickensian nightmare transcends all.
08/17/03
(It) isn't subtle... but it is passionate and angry and rousing where you might expect it to become numbing and depressing.
08/15/03
Harsh and angry, this Oscar-worthy film stages a deliberately paced, thoroughly researched indictment of institutionalized cruelty and the kind of ignorance and hypocrisy that validates and encourages it.
09/20/03
Something like a 'Masterpiece Theatre' retread of an old Roger Corman women-in-prison flick...
09/15/03
This is a worthwhile movie because it is well-made and encourages viewers to think and feel.
07/29/03
Top CriticThe Magdalene Sisters has the force of an alarm being sounded.
09/05/03
This extraordinary film is celluloid incendiarism, rabble-rousing cinema with a delirious, delicious edge of black comedy which I estimate to be about 90-95% intentional.
03/25/03
A superb film.
08/01/03
All in all, a worthy, if dull effort which leaves us feeling we've been assigned to a lecture of limited inspiration.
08/02/03
This unflinching and compelling film about a Catholic order in Ireland that incarcerated those considered by the community to be fallen women will make your blood boil.
09/29/02
Blistering and brilliant work of true-life moral agitprop.
08/15/03
Top CriticMagdalene Sisters isn't what you'd call a fun night at the movies. It's more of a kick in the stomach.
09/22/03
A harrowing indictment of the atrocities performed in the name of organized religion.
01/27/04
Two hours of, "This is wrong!" can be difficult to bear. What makes The Magdalene Sisters much better than a censorious browbeating is the girls themselves...
07/22/03
The picture is passionate without question, but perhaps passionate to a fault.
07/31/03
Its mode is that of 'a story that needs to be told,' lest we forget the marginalized lessons of history... worth seeing at least once.
02/15/04
If Writer/Director Mullan is true to the facts, then I don't need to hear the other side of the story since its likely one with a single purpose in mind not willing to listen to anyone else.
08/14/03
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