The Magdalene Sisters - Please Open the Door

Posted April 28, 2003

Movies & TV - A desperate escape attempt ends in recapture.

It's 1960s Ireland, and girls who are found to be promiscuous, pregnant or just not spoken for in general are sent into servitude to the Magdalene Laundry, a slave-labor business run by the Catholic Church. The laundry operated through 1996, seeing 30,000 women pass through its dormitory. This film follows the struggle of four women to not just live through their experience, but retain their dignity and humanity, as well.

• Star: Geraldine McEwan
• Star: Dorothy Duffy
• Star: Anne-Marie Duff
• Star: Eileen Walsh
• Director: Peter Mullan
• Producer: Frances Higson
• Screenwriter: Peter Mullan