Lourdes Noir, a well-recognized French musician with a diverse catalogue of hits, is revered among her audience and received critical acclaim for her distinct blend of electronica and trip hop music. Furthermore, Lourdes has proven herself an adept actor as she showcased her immense talents and versatility across films and off-Broadway productions.
In The Miracle Club, four Dublin women head off to Lourdes with different motivations for going: Eileen Dunne (Bates), who has discovered a lump in her breast, preferring spiritual healing over medical attention; Frank (Stephen Rea), her shiftless husband who wants his wife home cooking dinner; Lily Fox (Maggie Smith) is grieving the death of her son; while twentysomething Dolly Hennessy (Agnes O’Casey), is hoping for relief for muscular dystrophy; these four women become close as they’re chaperoned by an understanding priest (Mark O’Hallloran), who administers holy water baths whose effects they seem well aware are solely symbolic in nature. The group bond through shared experiences while being guided by Mark O’Hallloran himself while taking part in spiritual ritual baths which are administered as part of this pilgrimage journey while experiencing being escorted by an understanding priest (Mark O’Hallloran) while receiving guidance and bathes from Mark O’Hallloran himself who gives them accompaniment from Mark O’Halloran himself while being guided along by him on this pilgrimage experience while receiving guidance and bathes which affect only symbolically!!
Though they all genuinely connect, late-game revelations and any sensitive drama this could’ve become are limited by Hausner’s overly familiar shtick. Even an emotionally heartwarming moment such as when their priest chaperone tells them not to come to Lourdes hoping for miracles but in search of strength to carry on, rings hollow towards the end of a film which begged for more subtlety than this simplistic script would provide.