Weatherman Tom After having read the reviews on here, I was expecting to see something like "Irreversible" times 10; a lot of the users on here exaggerated the animosity of the nuns as portrayed in the film. There are many elements within the convent that can really irate someone and the fact that it is a true story is even more infuriating. The acting is very good, the women in the film act out their anger and desperation very well, as do the nuns their sadistic nature. However, make no mistake: this is not a violent film, despite what you might have read in the other reviews. On the contrary, it leaves a lot to the imagination, apart from a few scenes. Like "In the name of the father" this film made me want to jump in the screen and smash the nuns' teeth in. Overall, a very good film.

Joe T As already well noted, this is a very well crafted film that captures and portrays some of the lowest possibilities of human endeavour. The movie has it's flaws, but drawing empathy from the viewer is not one of them and this it does so well that I was emotionally exhausted by the end of it.The religious dimension of the film is an interesting one. Clearly people wanting opportunity for anti-Catholic or anti-religious diatribe would find plenty of fuel here, but I think the more reasonable viewer (religious or not) would see the issues raised for what they are - a perversion and distortion of Christian faith perpetuated and maintained by flawed institutional systems. In this vein, it's not necessarily an anti-religious film and not even anti-establishment as such, but it does show a terrible side of those things and, moreover, illustrate how human beings can take any ideology, belief system etc. and turn it to meet their own personal sadistic and evil ends.A sad and horrible film and one that reminds us all of what not do to, how not to treat people and how we should be ever vigilant as a society against evil and cruelty no matter the guise it takes.

weekly-movie-review The Magdalene Sisters is a depiction of the abuse of girls at Magdalene Asylums. This is not an entirely accurate story and should be considered more of a summary of the history of the asylum and some report that the abuse was even worse than the movie lets on. As for the movie itself, the acting is very strong, especially from Nora-Jane No one, in her acting debut no less! It is also well written and directed, but the movie seems a bit dated, like watching a production from 1992 instead of 2002. Overall, a very good, but not quite great Irish film. It is, however, definitely worth your time if you like movies based on true events.

Cosmoeticadotcom Brutally psychopathic lesbian nuns and lascivious pedophile priests. What else is new? No, seriously, watching the DVD of The Magdalene Sisters was like a time machine for me. Not that I was ever an unwed mother in an Irish hellhole run by religious extremists, but I did grow up in a poor neighborhood that was patrolled by reprobate and psychotic cops that made the bad cops in Serpico look virginal, by comparison. Those cops, as the nuns in the film, ruled by terror and brutality. People were assaulted and humiliated and denigrated for the least of reasons.This film could have easily veered off track into a running anti-Catholic joke or screed, but its artistic 'reality' is too levelheaded to allow that. Basically, last century in Ireland was a misogynist's utopia. Young women were horded off to laundries to do slave labor for the Roman Catholic church, under the guidance of nuns from the Magdalene sisterhood, whose hope was to redeem prostitutes, unwed mothers, and other 'fallen girls'. The title is a play off this fact and three young women who are the stars of the film. Based upon real women, although for dramatic purposes their tales are condensed into the 1960s (the DVD's documentary Sex In A Cold Climate shows the women the lead characters were based on, and their age range varies over a quarter of a century). Why the 1960s and not the 1940s seems only to be for the belief among many artists that this was the last period of social justice in the world. The three girls represent different archetypes of 'fallen women': the orphan and would be prostitute and sexual temptress Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff), whose crime is flirting with boys at Catholic school; the unwed mother Rose- called Patricia by the nuns (Dorothy Duffy), whose child is taken away from her by her parents, and rape/incest victim Bernadette (Nora-Jane No one), whose brutalizing by her cousin, is followed by her parents shipping away, until her younger brother- who cried out for her as she was taken away, comes to rescue her four years later…. The Catholic Church in Ireland condemned this 2003 film, which is no surprise, but given its problems with pedophile priests, does anyone watching this really believe the claims of sadistic lesbian nuns is NOT credible! That these Magdalene laundry camps were run until 1996 is amazing (in the worst sense), but all too emblemic of the evils of all religion- from the Crusades and Inquisitions, Martin Luther to Torquemada, the Conquistadores and the Taliban. Writer/director Peter Mullan never veers into caricature, which says a lot, given the subject matter, and the acting is utterly superb. McEwan, as Sister Bridget, reeks wickedry like few characters in film history. Even Nurse Ratched, from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, seems kind-hearted by comparison. And this film is worlds better than a similarly-themed film from a few years ago, Girl, Interrupted, which seemed more like a chicks behind bars film. None of the actresses in The Magdalene Sisters are likely to become sex symbols, like the collagen lipped and breast enhanced Angelina Jolie. They are attractive, but real looking.