The Miracle Club (2023)

A heart-warming comedy-drama film directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan. Set in 1967 Ireland, the film stars three Oscar-winning and/or nominated actresses: Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates, and Laura Linney. The plot follows a group of working-class women from Dublin on a pilgrimage to Lourdes in France.

Lily (Smith) and Eileen (Bates) are lifelong friends living in a working-class suburb of Dublin. They, along with their much younger friend Dolly (Agnes O’Casey), sign up for a talent contest at the local parish. The prize? Tickets to Lourdes, the pilgrimage site in France. Each woman needs a miracle: Eileen found a lump in her breast and hasn’t gone to a doctor, Lily can’t get over the death of her son Declan, who drowned many years before, and Dolly’s young son cannot (or won’t?) speak.

The arrival of Chrissie (Linney), the errant daughter of their deceased best friend, from the US stirs up old grudges. Despite the initial resentment, the quartet ends up going to Lourdes, praying for personal, physical, and spiritual miracles.

The film is noted for its attention to detail and nuance, with Emmy-nominated director Thaddeus O’Sullivan capturing both the sweeping landscapes of Ireland and the intimate setting of the small block of houses. 

John Conroy’s cinematography starts with stunning sweeps of Irish green and the blue sea, the gorgeous cliffs and rocks, Ireland incarnate. But he shows equal care with the small block of houses and their coloured doors, the intimacy of the setting.