Philomena
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
“The Magdalene Laundries” is a haunting song by Joni Mitchell. It’s about the real-life laundries in Ireland where many poor women were sentenced for the “sin” of being a “fallen woman” or for having a child out of wedlock. Incredibly, the laundries operated for centuries and were not shut down until the 1990s!
They were oppressive asylums run by Roman Catholic nuns who treated the unmarried, imprisoned women as inmates. For their penance, the women were forced to do the work for laundry businesses for no pay. Those who were pregnant had their babies taken from them and the children were then sold into adoption, never to be seen again.
Much has been written about the inhumanity of this Catholic Church-sanctioned scandal. It’s also the subject of a beautiful, heart-wrenching dramatic film called Philomena. Made in 2003, the movie tells the true story of Philomena Lee, a devoted Catholic woman who was imprisoned in one of the asylums as an unwed, pregnant teenager. Now in her 70’s, she is tormented by the memory of when her three-year old boy was taken from her by the nuns and sold to a wealthy American family. She never even got a chance to say goodbye to him.
Philomena is desperate to find out what became of her son.
Now in the winter of her years, Philomena is desperate to find out what became of her son. She begs the nuns who worked at the asylum for any information, but they refuse. They claim that their records from that time were destroyed in a fire. But it’s clear from their silence that they also still believe there’s no statute of limitations on the harsh suffering that Philomena deserves for the “sin” of her long-ago sexual downfall.
The tragedy of Philomena’s tale might have ended there if not for a former BBC reporter named Martin Sexsmith. A cynical, condescending atheist, Sexsmith was out of work at the time, unsure what to do next. He tells everyone he wants to find something “important” to write about. But once he begins talking to Philomena, it becomes clear that the important story that wants telling has found him.
Judi Dench and Steve Coogan are terrific as Philomena and Sexsmith. What a humorous odd couple they make—the devout Catholic and the cynical atheist—as they travel together from Ireland to America in search of answers about what happened to her son. Part road trip adventure, buddy comedy, and detective story, the movie is packed with rich character moments and an exploration of what happens when faith and the institutions that people believe in abandon them. How do we find it in our hearts to forgive when the world around us is so unforgiving?
Watching Philomena and Sexsmith untangle the true-life mystery of what happened to her long-lost son is a profoundly moving experience. I give Philomena a powerful four out of four stars. The first time I saw the movie, I was with my daughter Hallie. When the lights came on in the theatre, both of us wept tears of heartache and joy.
