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The Miracle Club | 2023 | PG-13 | – 2.3.5
Why is “The Miracle Club” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “thematic elements and some language.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes many references to abortion and teen pregnancy, several arguments and disparaging remarks made about a woman, the death of a parent, discussions of breast cancer, discussions of miracles and hope, and at least 2 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.
Several friends from a small Irish town are desperate to make the trip to Lourdes in France, each hoping to experience a miracle. With Laura Linney, Kathy Bates, Maggie Smith, Agnes O’Casey, Mark O’Halloran, Mark McKenna, Niall Buggy, Hazel Doupe, Stephen Rea and Eric D. Smith. Directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan. Several lines of dialogue are spoken in French without translation. [Running Time: 1:31]
The Miracle Club SEX/NUDITY 2
– Two women talk about methods of ending a pregnancy, with details, and one woman talks about how another woman helped her to end her pregnancy. We understand that a woman became pregnant at the age of 17 and was sent away. A woman says that another woman is “after” a priest.
► Husbands and wives hug and kiss each other on the cheek.
► A woman reaches into her blouse and touches her chest while looking concerned and we later understand that she felt a lump. A man and several women are shown with towels wrapped around them before going into baths (we see cleavage and bare shoulders on the women and the man’s bare chest, abdomen and back).
The Miracle Club VIOLENCE/GORE 3
– A husband and wife argue over the cost of care for their young son and we understand that he does not speak. A husband and wife argue about her going on a pilgrimage to find a miracle; he tells her, “I won’t allow it.” A husband and wife argue about her going on a pilgrimage with their young son and he tells her if she goes, she shouldn’t bother coming back. Two women talk about one of them finding a lump in her breast and whether it is likely to be cancer. Women make numerous disparaging remarks about another woman when she returns to their small town after her mother dies (e.g. “we all thought she was dead,” “she’d sour milk,” and “who’d have her”). A young woman is bothered by how much “selling” is going on at a religious site; we see a large gift shop selling trinkets. A woman sings a song about someone killing someone else and a priest intervenes telling her that it is not appropriate; she yells at him. A woman says that she was “banished.” A woman feels guilty and says that she ruined her young son while he was in the womb by trying to abort him; the child does not speak. A woman talks about throwing herself down the stairs when she was pregnant, hoping to miscarry. A woman describes filling a bathtub with freezing water and then pouring in five bottles of whiskey to abort her baby. A woman describes another woman giving her pills and something else to drink and then putting her in a tub of boiling water as a method of aborting her child. A woman asks another woman, “How did you convince her to shut me out,” referring to her mother. A woman accuses a younger woman of trying to trap her son when she became pregnant.
► A woman visits a place by the ocean with a plaque hanging on a stone wall commemorating her son who drowned at the age of 19. A woman enters a church and walks toward a coffin that we understand contains her mother. Mourners gather at a graveside funeral service. A woman reads a letter left for her by her deceased mother apologizing for something that happened in the woman’s youth. A young girl is shown in a wheelchair and she seems ill. A man is wheeled into a room and comes out running and yelling (people think it’s a miracle that he is able to walk). Several people go into “the baths” and we hear some of them shrieking (we are told the water is frigid). A woman feels guilty and blames herself for her son’s death.
► A man struggles to change his toddler’s diaper and pokes himself in the finger with a pin. A man drops armfuls of groceries and grumbles until a woman shows him how to carry them properly. A bus stops short and we see a woman standing in the road; she boards the bus unharmed.
► A woman is shown with one leg shorter than the other and someone wonders whether the woman would go to Lourdes to “grow her leg back.” After a man changes a toddler’s diaper, we see the diaper open and feces on the floor and on the child’s hands. A woman is concerned about catching infections by getting into a bath that so many other people have been in.
The Miracle Club LANGUAGE 5
– About 2 F-words and its derivatives, 1 sexual reference, 3 scatological terms, 3 anatomical terms, 2 mild obscenities, name-calling (late, sweetie-pie, terrible, false alarm, gimmick, ya cow, terrible, curt, abrupt, con, sham, conman, hocus-pocus), exclamations (bleedin’ well, bloody marvelous), 15 religious exclamations (e.g. Christ on a bike, Jesus, oh God, oh my God, God bless, thank God, for God’s sake). | profanity glossary |
The Miracle Club SUBSTANCE USE
– A woman takes prescription medication. A woman pours herself a glass of liquor, a woman says that she poured five bottles of whiskey into a tub when she was trying to miscarry her child and other women think that she meant that she drank the whiskey, and people drink wine and liquor in a café. A woman smokes cigarettes in several scenes.
The Miracle Club DISCUSSION TOPICS
– Miracles, faith, friendship, small towns, guilt, abortion, teen pregnancy, lost love, Lourdes, hope, shame, disappointment, reconciliation, death of a parent, gender roles.
The Miracle Club MESSAGE
– It’s better to make your own miracles.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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