There is only one truth about life – it’s always changing. And while those changes may not always be within our control, sometimes it’s the biggest leaps of faith that can lead you on the right path towards the future you want. This weekend, Sony Picture Classics is releasig The Miracle Club into theaters. Although the movie hasn’t had any big marketing campaign and isn’t going to take down the big blockbusters in theaters this week, it will quickly win viewers over with a sweet and relatable story that will give hope for the future.
The Miracle Club follows a set of four women from a small town in Ireland in 1967 who have gotten tickets for a trip to Lourdes, France. Believing deeply that the city of Lourdes is a place of religious miracles, the women all go on the trip with hopes of their own miracles being granted. But along the way, tensions, old wounds and even current struggles come to a head. Old friendships are tested, and new ones are formed. Will any of the women get what they hoped for on their trip to this holy site?
As much as the movie is about the trip these women are taking, it’s also about the relationship dynamics and things that continue to repeat in relationships even to this day. Viewers can understand each and every one of the women and their motivation for going to Lourdes, and the struggles that each are facing at home as well. Even as time passes, some things still seem to stay the same. The characters are all relatable, even if they’re from different generations, each woman can understand the struggles the other is going through.
The least believable thing about the movie is that Chrissie (Laura Linney) and Eileen (Kathy Bates) were friends that grew up together. Even the styling of the actresses make their age difference apparant, and while their acting dynamic together is great – it is a bit of a hard sell that they are the same age.
The Miracle Club outwardly looks like it will be a bit of a fluffy movie, but surprisingly takes you on quite an emotional journey. The movie starts to break down misconceptions between the friends and puts them on different paths of healing and forgiveness. And while the miracles each of the women are hoping for, the results may vary and the trip ends up giving them everything they need, even if they know it or not.
The movie will have you questioning your own path and if the journey would be worth it for you. And while its enduring and a bit saccharine sweet at times, it is buffered well with the harsh realities of life – even in the 60s. The movie will leave you smiling and hopeful for the character’s futures and relatioships together, as well as the reassurance that change can happen at any stage in your life.
The Miracle Club hits theaters nation wide this weekend.
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About THE MIRACLE CLUB:
Lourdes, a picturesque French town and a place of miracles, a magnet for 6 million visitors each year from across the globe. Ballygar, Ireland, 1967: a boisterous hard-knocks community in outer Dublin that marches to its own beat – frenzied, fast and loose – and yet also deeply soulful; rooted in traditions of loyalty, faith and togetherness. And the opportunity to rise above one’s daily struggles is frankly a pipe dream, especially for women. There’s just one dream for the women of Ballygar to taste freedom and escape the gauntlet of domestic life: to win a pilgrimage to the sacred French town of Lourdes. With a little benevolent interference from their local priest, close friends LILY, EILEEN, and DOLLY get their ticket of a lifetime. Having never left Dublin – let alone Ireland – the journey provides our heroines the chance to let their hair down, celebrate life and some independence. It’s also a chance to reflect on their own lives, with each of the women in search of their own personal miracles. But when they are joined by CHRISSIE, recently returned from a decades-long exile in the USA, deep wounds from the past are re-opened, and bitter truths exposed. As they confront one another and embrace their past, these women realise that the miracle they have all been looking for is right in front of them. Joyous, uplifting, hilarious and aspirational – our heroines as funny, messy, vocal and flawed as ourselves – THE MIRACLE CLUB empowers us all to communicate, love and laugh.
Starring Laura Linney, Maggie Smith, and Kathy Bates.
Directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan.
(SONY PICTURES CLASSICS)
Rated PG-13