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“The Magdalene Sisters” is a wonderful film. Director Peter Mullan weaves a harrowing tale about four young women in Ireland in the late fifties-early sixties forced into servitude in a Magdalene asylum. This film is not easy to watch, not only due to the cruelty depicted, but because it is based on actual events. The Magdalene asylums were institutions run by the Catholic Church for girls who had committed, “sins against their chastity.” The families disown their daughters and send them off for years of degrading labor and torture. “The Magdalene Sisters” follows the experiences of Margaret, Bernadette, Rose and Crispina. ***

We are first introduced to Margaret, who is raped by her cousin at a family wedding. After telling a relative, she is taken to the asylum by her shamed parents, unaware that she will not see her family for years. Bernadette is an orphan, who is sent to the institution by the nuns after see is caught talking to boys. Rose was sent off after having a baby out of wedlock and forced to give up the child. Crispina was already at the asylum for having an illegitimate baby when the other girls got there. ***

Once in the Magdalene asylum the girls are given brown dresses to wear as their belongings are deloused. All of their individuality is striped away; Rose is told she must go by her middle name, Patricia due to the fact they already had a girl with that name. The nuns regularly beat the girls and force them to undress and endure terrible games involving their anatomy. A priest rapes Crispina repeatedly and no one can do anything to help her. Each girl is put through hell, having to work in laundries in complete silence, and takes drastic measures to survive. “The Magdalene Sisters” is a testament to the human spirit. ***