The Miracle Club (Blu-ray) (Import)

The screenplay, written by Dubliner Jimmy Smallhorne, says his inspiration for the film came from his Mam and all other women who were the best multitaskers: “my mother had eight kids herself and my father so that’s ten meals three times a day – all the women on my street were heroic, charismatic, riveting characters. They had resilience in spite of the hardship and they had faith.” The Miracle Club was shot in Ireland on location around Dublin and Wicklow as well as at Ardmore Film Factory where a number of iconic locations were recreated including the world-famous Grotto at Lourdes. Kathy Bates who has been attached to the project for over a decade said, “it was very important to me that this film was shot in Ireland…I loved being in Ireland absolutely loved it”. Recreating the inner city of Dublin from the late 60’s and also Lourdes was the job of John Hand, production designer on The Miracle Club. Kathy Bates said, “John made lookbooks for us – made up of everything from photos of how women looked crossing the street to looking at how a kitchen would have looked ..which really helped us find a kinship between your character and the world that John and his incredibly talented team has created” Actor Mark O’Halloran who plays Fr Dermot Byrne says of The Miracle Club’s themes: “They are about friendship and community and forgiveness and reaching a place of acceptance. It’s about healing and getting healed and the different types of healing that are needed – spiritual and physical. Family and duty and responsibility to each other also features I think”. Ballygar, Dublin, Ireland, 1968: close friends Lily (Maggie Smith), Eileen (Kathy Bates), and Dolly (Agnes O’Casey) win the trip of a lifetime - a pilgrimage to Lourdes. With each woman desperately in need of a personal miracle, the trip seems like an answer to all their prayers. But when they are joined by Chrissie (Laura Linney), returning to Dublin after decades in America, deep wounds from the past are re-opened and bitter truths exposed. As they confront one another and embrace their shared past, the group reckon with revelations that will change them forever. Directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan, The Miracle Club is a heartfelt story of friendship, family, and forgiveness.