Review of The Magdalene Sisters

The Magdalene Sisters is based on what was a reality of life (until surprisingly recently) in Ireland- many girls and young women considered promiscuous or simply flirtatious were forced to live in convents and work in their laundries. It's a powerful indictment of the Catholic church and pervasive social attitudes- the punitive "morality" and gender double standards towards sex. Of course it wasn't only an Irish problem: the idea of shame of unmarried sex and pregnancy still festers on in some quarters. A film that hardly hides its opinions, and why should it? The reality was disgusting and fills me with anger and pity.