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100
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Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
The rare movie that turns cruelty into art.
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90
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Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Graced with performers who bring a purity of emotion to their work, the film is always dramatically convincing. There is a fundamental air of truth about it, a sense that, horrific though things seem, this is how it must have been.
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90
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Washington Post Ann Hornaday
A stirring, emotionally galvanizing film, not only due to its shattering subject matter but thanks to Mullan's spot-on eye for casting and fluid, uncoercive style.
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90
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Washington Post Desson Thomson
Mullan's movie is admiringly uncompromising. He refuses to augment the horrors with relief.
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90
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Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
See The Magdalene Sisters for its own sake; the performances alone are inspirational. But see it too as an example of how powerful a feature film still can be in the hands of an impassioned filmmaker.
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88
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Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
A harrowing look at institutional cruelty, perpetrated by the Catholic Church in Ireland, and justified by a perverted hysteria about sex.
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88
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USA Today Claudia Puig
It is an unsettling tale told simply and chillingly by director Peter Mullan, with stand-out performances, an evocative soundtrack and spare, haunting visuals.
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80
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The New York Times Stephen Holden
The Magdalene Sisters would be too painful to watch if it didn't have a silver lining. Suffice it to say that it is possible to fly over this religious cuckoo's nest and remain free. All it takes is courage and the timely kindness of strangers.
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75
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Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Mullan errs by making all the sisters dragon ladies. Still, the film gets to you; it's a powerhouse.
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75
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San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
A powerful document of cruelty and sadism.
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