Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s new film, The Miracle Club, is a tender and successful exploration of love, friendship and forgiveness. This blend of comedy and drama has just opened in the UK, and is impeccably constructed to gain a good reception. The production is remarkably successful in evoking 1960s Ireland, particularly a working-class Ireland in which the church holds great sway. But for once we’re not mired in dark tales of abuse and poverty – though there’s no great affluence on show. We’re just steeped in ordinary lives in which people hope for a break; hope something better will turn up. It’s sentimental, perhaps even clichéd, but none the worse for that.
In this context we understand the yearning for something different in the small community of Ballygar, Dublin. Two events coincide to set a slight narrative in motion. The much-loved Maureen Ahearn has died. And a talent show offers a small group the chance to travel to the miraculous Lourdes in France.
Maureen’s daughter, Chrissie (Laura Linney), returns to Ballygar for the funeral, after living in the US for 40 years. Having had no contact, Chrissie’s return is greeted with scepticism and even hostility. Eileen (Kathy Bates), Lily (Maggie Smith), and Dolly (Agnes O’Casey) come to win the coveted trip, but are far from delighted when Chrissie joins them.
Of course the ‘miracle’ achieved by the trip isn’t what you might expect. The clever but simple plot device allows the necessary working out of the ancient grudges, resentments, and misunderstandings. Jimmy Smallhorne’s story, developed by himself with Timothy Prager and Joshua D. Maurer, is a tremendously empathetic and touching tale of relationships. The arc of forgiveness may be predictable for 2020s audiences, inured to more spectacular and more knowing fare. But it unquestionably works.
The film’s female stars bring great richness to their characterisation. Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s direction and John Conroy’s photography give full rein to this magnificent cast. And while wholly convincing technical details place us firmly in this time and place, the focus is 100% on character and relationships. Deft but unobtrusive camerawork is complemented well by Edmund Butt’s score and Alex Mackie’s Editing.
The Miracle Club is a small story, but it has more to say than many more ambitious films. We are gifted excellent performances, not just as you might expect, from the main protagonists, but also from the strong supporting cast. Stephen Rea does a great laconic, shambling turn as Eileen’s husband, Frank; Niall Buggy adds much as Lily’s husband Tommy; and Mark McKenna is spot-on as Dolly’s man, George, beset by childcare duties. And the subtle humanity of Mark O’Halloran as Ballygar’s priest Dermot Byrne is important here too, a subtle glue for the group.
So much in a film hinging on a sense of shared values depends on the quality of the script. And when we’re treated to Kathy Bates and Stephen Rea delivering lines like these:
‘D’you not know The Song of Bernadette?’
‘No, how does it go?’
Basically you can’t go wrong. And The Miracle Club doesn’t.