Stars: Geraldine McEwan, Nora-Jane Noone, Anne-Marie Duff, Eileen Walsh, Dorothy Duffy, Mary Murray, Francis Healy, Eithne McGuinness

Director: Peter Mullan

Summary: Set in Ireland in 1964, in the Magdalene Convent for supposedly 'fallen' women run by the Catholic Church. The story centres around four girls, Crispina and Rose who are unwed mothers, Bernadette who was accused of flirting with boys and Margaret who was raped by her cousin at a family wedding. The girls are incarcerated at the institution and are forced to work long hours and endure humiliation and abuse on a regular basis.

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 to have committed sexual sins, were sent away from their homes to earn penitence working in profit-making laundries run by the Sisters of Magdalene Order. However, the "acts" that lead to the girls miserable imprisonment were clearly not punishable. What's worse, the nuns were cruel money grabbers who worked the girls to the point of exhaustion, and used poor living conditions and psychological abuse to break and brainwash the girls into subservience. The awful treatment the nuns gave these innocent young women was terrifying and utterly disturbing.
Mullen designed the fictional characters in the film based on interviews with actual survivors of the laundries, working their stories into his plot. Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff) is a shy girl who is raped by her cousin at a wedding shaming her family, Patricia/Rose (Dorothy Duff) gets pregnant and her parents take her baby away from her, Bernadette (Nora-Jane Noone) is a pretty girl who is deemed "too flirtatious," and Crispina (Eileen Walsh) is a loving young mum whose children are forbidden to see her and are being raised by her sister. The imposing Sister Bridget (Geraldine McEwan) is pure evil, and will strike fear into the souls of MAGDALENE viewers. This expertly crafted, haunting film, presents Mullen's second feature film, following 1999's ORPHANS.

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Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary - 1. Peter Mullen - Director, Trailers, Bonus Short Films - 1. FRIDGE, 2. CLOSE
Year:	2002
Release Date:	September 1, 2003
Runtime:	115 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	M P 239 D
Keywords:	Sisters, General, Drama, Magdalene
Genre:	Drama