People go to Lourdes, France, to be healed.  It is a subject I have addressed in other reviews, and we can get the origin story of it all in The Song of Bernadette (1943).  Since Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858, there have been a number of miraculous happenings there that have been meticulously documented and examined, mostly pertaining to matters of health.  You do not have to take the Church’s word for it since those doing the examining are not members of the clergy, but trained medical professionals.  Given this level of scrutiny, you may not be surprised to know that the Catholic Church has officially recognized only seventy instances of Divine intervention from this location since Our Lady’s first appearance in the south of France.  This rough number is referenced in today’s film, The Miracle Club (2023), though I wonder how many people actually know the true total?  When God does anything that is acknowledged by a large portion of society, people tend to get agog, but just as quickly fade back into whatever routine dominates their lives.  The result is that what has happened creates a false set of expectations that can be dangerous for a person’s soul.  And yet, people go to Lourdes to be healed.

The opening shot of The Miracle Club is not in the south of France, but in an unspecified Irish seaside town in 1967. There is a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes next to a marker commemorating the 1927 drowning of Declan Fox (not pictured) near this spot.  It is being viewed by his mother, Lily Fox (Maggie Smith).  All over town, people are getting ready for an event to be held at the parish, of which Lily will be taking part.  She is to sing back-up vocals with her young friend, Dolly Hennessy (Agnes O’Casey), in support of their other friend, Eileen Dunne (Kathy Bates).  If you are confused as to what could be going on that would see relative amateurs giving a concert, it is a charitable function to raise money for a parish pilgrimage to Lourdes.  The winner will get two vouchers to go.  Eileen wants to go because she is worried that a lump on her breast is cancerous, though she has told no one outside of Lily and their pastor, Father Dermot Byrne (Mark O’Halloran).  This includes keeping this information from her husband, Frank Dunne (Stephen Rea), and her doctors.  Dolly, too, has a motivation for going, wanting to take along her mute son, Daniel Hennessy (Eric Smith) in the hopes that bathing in the waters their will cure him of his reticence to talk.  For Lily, it is all about her long-lost son and letting go of any responsibility she feels for his passing.  Speaking of death, this talent show is taking place on the same day as a funeral, that of another friend of the ladies already described, Maureen Ahearn (voiced by Brenda Fricker).  Arriving too late due to flying over seas from the United States is her estranged daughter, Chrissie Ahearn (Laura Linney), who has not been back to the Emerald Isle for forty years.  She gets to the church in time to see the casket in the empty church where she is greeted by Father Byrne and given the key to her mother’s humble abode.  Upon entering the living room, she notices an advertisement for the parish show, and decides to attend.  It is there that she sees people who she has not seen in four decades, and who are not happy to have her present, namely Eileen.  Chrissie gets to the hall shortly after Dolly, Eileen, and Lily have been given the runner-up prize of a side of bacon.  The cute kid to which they had lost adds to his cuteness by giving his reward to Dolly in the hopes that it will help Daniel speak.  Despite the joy of this action, any cheer rapidly dissolves when Eileen and Lily notice Chrissie.  The remaining animosity has Chrissie rapidly retreating to her mother’s place.  The next day she is there with everyone else for Maureen’s internment.  After this takes place, Chrissie reads the letter left her by her mother in which Maureen apologizes for the angry words that sent Chrissie to another continent.  Amongst these effects are a ticket for the upcoming Lourdes trip, which she has Father Byrne surreptitiously give to Eileen despite the priest’s objections.  Dolly, Eileen, and Lily are facing objections of their own, but in the form of their husbands not wanting them to take a trip they view as a waste of time.  Dolly’s spouse, George Hennessy (Mark McKenna), goes so far as to say that if she leaves with Daniel, they might as well not return.  Despite these obstacles, they all go, but they are stopped before their bus gets more than a few yards by Chrissie, who has had a change of heart.  With everyone aboard, they make it to the ferry on time, and it is off to France.  After a day of visiting the grotto where Our Lady appeared, the next stop is their introduction to the baths.  As Eileen is getting out, she is told of the low number of people who have experienced miracles as referenced in the introduction and is discouraged.  So, too, is Dolly, especially when Daniel is reluctant to get in with her.  Eileen’s bitterness spills over to dinner when she sings an inappropriate song that upsets Chrissie.  Dolly is feeling like a terrible mother.  It is not just because of Daniel’s behavior, but it is also because she blames herself for his condition for attempting to give herself a miscarriage while pregnant with Daniel.  This is when we learn the source of the tension that has separated these older women for all these years.  Declan had impregnated Chrissie when she was seventeen.  When Lily learned of this, she grew angry and induced Maureen to banish Chrissie.  Her leaving upset Eileen, who had been Chrissie’s best friend.  This all came up because Chrissie admits to having attempted, and succeeded, at a similar project to what Dolly admitted.  The following morning, Chrissie takes Lily to the baths, where Lily asks Chrissie for forgiveness, which is given.  Roughly the same happens with Eileen and Chrissie when they get back on the bus to return to Dublin.  Eileen also lets on about her lump, and Chrissie volunteers to take her to the doctor.  When the bus pulls up to the parish, it is to a set of husbands who are all overjoyed to once more see their wives.  We close with roughly the same shot as the beginning, but this time Chrissie joins Lily.

I think you can see by now why a Catholic reviewer would want to address The Miracle Club.  You also may be wondering what healings took place.  If you are just going by my synopsis, you might say this is a heartwarming tale that has little to do with God’s intervention, or at least as our ladies want it.  Eileen’s lump remains, Lily’s wasted leg is still shorter than the other, and Daniel stays mute.  Then again, towards the end there is a moment when the camera zooms in on Dolly’s son as he closely examines a Lourdes snow globe and he whispers the word “home.”  Still, the operative word is “heal.”  Too often, people want what they want without giving God the opportunity to give us what He wants.  This is remarkable when you consider He is God and, by definition, all-knowing.  This means he has more knowledge of situations than we do.  This attitude is summed up by Eileen, who complains about not getting her miracle by reminding anyone who will listen that she goes to Mass and believes in God.  She deserves it, or so she tells herself.  That may be, but God might have something different in store for her.  Once more, the film does a great job of speaking to what this “something different” could be when Father Byrne discusses how some of the things that get cured cannot be seen.  Put differently, you do not need the official stamp of the Church for a miracle to happen, as cool as that would be.  For example, I had been having knee pain throughout the days leading up to my own visit to Lourdes.  I did not get into the baths (which is not as easy as the movie would lead you to believe), but the pain just stopped as I prayed next to the grotto.  I did not immediately look for a priest to have this event reported to the Vatican, but I know that God’s hand was upon me in that moment.  God’s hand is on our four pilgrims, too.  If nothing else, you can point to the healing of contentious marriages that were at the point of dissolution when the women left for France.  Further, without the trip, you would not have had the mending of fences between old friends.  God works in mysterious ways, which is a common yet deep truth for those who believe.  It is those that doubt that think they know everything about God.

I recommend The Miracle Club.  It is on Netflix if any of this interested you.  To encapsulate what I discussed in the previous paragraph, it is a film about common Faith.  We all have doubts at times about God and what He does for us.  It should also be noted that none of these women acknowledge Divine intervention at the end.  As a practicing Catholic and film reviewer, this is what you have me for, to remind you of how He can work through such things.