Some of the most iconic horror films come with a strong opening that demands your attention. Scream’s opening with Casey Becker is referenced until this very day. Final Destination 2‘s car accident calamity still gives people nightmares. Audiences seeing Chrissie being terrorized (and then eaten) by the Great White Shark in Jaws put them on the edge of their seats. The purpose of the opening is to prepare audiences for what’s to come. Though, sometimes the opening can be the best part of any film. Take Ghost Ship. Critics destroyed the Dark Castle feature. Though there’s a fondness amongst horror...
- 7/14/2023
- by Jeffrey Bowie Jr.
- TVovermind.com
“The Miracle Club” may not be a faith-based movie in the traditional sense, but this Ireland-set art-house offering is a movie about faith all the same — specifically, about the conviction that drives four women to make the pilgrimage from Ireland all the way to Lourdes, France, where the waters are believed to have holy healing powers. If “The Miracle Club” were an overtly religious film, audiences would know from the outset what to expect from the trip, whereas director Thaddeus O’Sullivan doesn’t presume to play God, focusing more on mending the relationship between his main characters.
And what a cast he’s assembled to explore these women’s spiritual growth. The movie’s nothing special, but it’s worth checking out for the ensemble alone. Maggie Smith plays Lily, who lost her son to the sea decades earlier. Adopting an Irish accent and a frosty overall demeanor, Kathy Bates plays Eileen,...
And what a cast he’s assembled to explore these women’s spiritual growth. The movie’s nothing special, but it’s worth checking out for the ensemble alone. Maggie Smith plays Lily, who lost her son to the sea decades earlier. Adopting an Irish accent and a frosty overall demeanor, Kathy Bates plays Eileen,...
- 7/14/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
‘The Miracle Club’ Review: Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates And Laura Linney Star – That’s More Than Enough
Anything that brings Maggie Smith, Kathy Bates and Laura Linney together for a smart and engaging movie that will lift your spirits these days is a miracle all by itself. Indeed, The Miracle Club is a reason to celebrate this summer, if only for the chance to see a sterling and beloved cast get roles worthy of their many talents.
The movie is the brainchild of co-writer Jimmy Smallhorne and based on his memories of his family and growing up in a small Ireland town, but the emphasis is clearly on the women in that family. For years he has tried to bring this to the screen, and finally once director Thaddeus O’Sullivan got involved it was on its way. O’Sullivan brought his two other writers, Joshua Maurer and Timothy Prager, to further develop it, and all the while Oscar-winning actress Bates was attached. Even with Covid delays threatening...
The movie is the brainchild of co-writer Jimmy Smallhorne and based on his memories of his family and growing up in a small Ireland town, but the emphasis is clearly on the women in that family. For years he has tried to bring this to the screen, and finally once director Thaddeus O’Sullivan got involved it was on its way. O’Sullivan brought his two other writers, Joshua Maurer and Timothy Prager, to further develop it, and all the while Oscar-winning actress Bates was attached. Even with Covid delays threatening...
- 7/12/2023
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
On paper, Thaddeus O’Sullivan’s “The Miracle Club” seems like it should be a backboard-shattering slam-dunk for the sort of people whose favorite movies all share the words “and Maggie Smith” in their opening credits, but this trite Irish trifle about a girls trip to Lourdes is so chalky and underbaked that its all-star cast (Laura Linney! Kathy Bates! Stephen Rea!) is left no choice but to chew on the scenery. That’s a glaring problem in a film whose marquee location is so crudely green-screened behind the actors that the Grotto of the Apparitions feels like a leftover backdrop from “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.”
Occasionally sweet despite its general flavorlessness, “The Miracle Club” may have its heart in the right place, but it beats for nothing in a 1967-set period piece that grows faint at the sight of its own blood, let alone in a film...
Occasionally sweet despite its general flavorlessness, “The Miracle Club” may have its heart in the right place, but it beats for nothing in a 1967-set period piece that grows faint at the sight of its own blood, let alone in a film...
- 7/11/2023
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
As an actress, Maggie Smith can do no wrong. She’s a lot more fallible at choosing projects, as evidenced by this treacly story about Irishwomen of different generations who travel to the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France, praying for a miracle.
Smith is at the center of a powerhouse trio of actresses here, along with Laura Linney and Kathy Bates. And while recent films like Book Club and 80 for Brady have labored the point that older women still like sex, The Miracle Club is set in a tradition-bound 1967 Dublin barely touched by the sexual revolution of the era. That offers no improvement on the often cartoonish roles available for overqualified actresses of a certain age. Directed with pedestrian competence by Thaddeus O’Sullivan, The Miracle Club is about secrets that are all too obvious, and forgiveness you can see coming from the start.
Each of the main...
Smith is at the center of a powerhouse trio of actresses here, along with Laura Linney and Kathy Bates. And while recent films like Book Club and 80 for Brady have labored the point that older women still like sex, The Miracle Club is set in a tradition-bound 1967 Dublin barely touched by the sexual revolution of the era. That offers no improvement on the often cartoonish roles available for overqualified actresses of a certain age. Directed with pedestrian competence by Thaddeus O’Sullivan, The Miracle Club is about secrets that are all too obvious, and forgiveness you can see coming from the start.
Each of the main...
- 7/10/2023
- by Caryn James
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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