The Miracle Club (2023): You’re Either On the Bus or …

A few years ago, I came up with the term “boomer-porn”, meant to describe movies that are specifically made to appeal to the aging, relatively prosperous, somewhat old-school leaning baby boom generation – films that feature boomer generation actors having experiences that mature folks could relate to. And while the boomer generation continues to wield disproportionate (if fading) prominence politically and economically, this is not so much the case culturally and artistically, where influence has largely been yielded to much younger folk.  So, when a film is specially designed to get baby-boomers to lean forward and pay more attention, we take note. 

I didn’t use the term “boomer-porn” when I reviewed the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel back in 2012, but my opening remarks catch the flavor of the idea: “if you are an inveterate fan of Masterpiece Theater and other high end BBC programming shown on PBS, congratulations! You've become a target audience. And Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is aimed right at you. It's got a great cast of A-list stars, and A-list director, and an exotic locale. Indeed, [it] is a pleasant bit of fluffy entertainment …”. And yes, as in that last line, the term boomer-porn can be used pejoratively, to denote an okay picture with low aspirations. Technically, it should apply as well to better-than-okay films aimed at the target audience. This brings us to The Miracle Club, which, by the way, might well appeal to non-boomers, as well.  

The picture is a literal and figurative journey of discovery, of friendship and betrayal, of faith and family, of regret and reconciliation, of the possibility of miracles, of disappointment and of hope.

It’s Ireland circa 1967 in the small. staid, working-class seaside town of Ballygar. It’s not an exciting place, very catholic, very parochial – a place made livable largely by local friendships and the community of the local parish. Its people live in brick row houses distinguished mostly by their different colored doors. Among them are Lily (Maggie Smith), Eileen (Cathy Bates) and Dolly (Agnes O’Casey), three generations of women tied together by proximity and by their friendship with Maureen, who died recently. There is not a lot of mobility – many, including these three ladies, have lived their entire lives here.

One who didn’t, however, is Maureen’s daughter, Chrissie (Laura Linney), who fled to the US abruptly, under a cloud of mystery and possible scandal, forty years ago when she was just seventeen. Chrissie has not returned, nor made any effort to keep in touch in all that time, not even with Eileen, her very best childhood friend.  But now she is back to deal with her deceased mother’s affairs, such as they are. Eileen and Lily are surprised and shocked to see Chrissie after all this time. She has been gone so long she no longer sounds Irish. She’s become a fecking American; so clearly, she no longer belongs here, if she ever did. Nor is she greeted warmly; quite the opposite. In particular, former friend Eileen is affronted that Chrissie has shown up after all this time and speaks to her brusquely if at all. Dolly, on the other hand, just in her twenties and having no part in the history of Chrissie and the others, is merely curious.  

Let me pause to spotlight the fact that this movie features three of our greatest actresses: two-time Oscar winner (6-time nominee) and three-time Emmy winner (9-time nominee) Maggie Smith;  Oscar winner (4-time nominee) and two-time Emmy winner (14-time nominee!) Kathy Bates; and three-time Oscar nominee and four-time Emmy winner (9-time nominee) Laura Linney.  That gets a WOW! in my book. And all of them give very fine performances here, as does the fourth principal player, newcomer Agnes O’Casey. The wonderful actors and acting are reason enough to go see The Miracle Club.  

Chrissie shows up in Ballygar just as the church is putting on a talent show, with the grand prize being two free tickets for a faith-based journey to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes – the famous pilgrimage site in the French Pyrénées whose waters are said to have miraculous curing properties. People were less cynical in 1967 than today and in village Ireland belief was still strong. A trip to Lourdes was a big draw for the faithful. Even today, six million make the pilgrimage every year. 

Lily, Eileen and Dolly all have reasons to seek a miracle. Dolly has a seven your old son who is mute; Eileen has a lump she thinks to be cancerous; while Lily, who has one leg inches shorter than the other, most crucially hopes that the sainted Lady of Lourdes will extinguish her secret, soul-crushing feelings of guilt. All find their way onto the Lourdes-bound bus. Imagine their surprise when, just as the bus is starting off, the otherwise quite sensible Chrissie shows up and hops on as well. 

Speaking of faith, consider this for a second: Can you imagine signing up for a non-stop bus-trip all the way from Dublin, ferrying around the British Isles to Cherbourg, then another 1000 kilometers on mainland highways and byways to a destination in South-central France? Me neither. I am thankful, too, to the director and production team for sparing us a blow-by-blow depiction of that part of the journey. They do make it to Lourdes, which is interesting in itself 

The film goes on to gradually and artfully (by and large) fill in the tragic backstory of these four women, revealing long hidden secrets and resentments going back to that deep, dark moment forty years in the past for which, as one character puts it, all have been punished. 

Don’t get me wrong, The Miracle Club is neither bleak nor mirthless. The tone is well balanced, and there is much to make one smile – particularly the somewhat cliched, but still amusing portrayal of the protesting men the ladies leave behind, and how, once left, these guys  try to cope with the chores their womenfolk have always handled for them.  Stephen Rea as Eileen’s blundering husband and Niall Buggy as Lily’s hopeless old mate are particularly excellent. Mark O’Halloran as the parish priest and expedition leader Father Dermot Byrne also does a nice job. 

But you may ask, is there actually a miracle in The Miracle Club? I’d say there is a bit of ambiguity on this point.   You’ll have to see it and decide for yourself.

1 hour 31 minutes Rated PG-13

Grade: B+

In wide release, opening July 14 in theaters nationwide.