Philomena

This film could be seen as a predictable slam against established and even conservative institutions. The Roman Catholic Church and in a lesser way the Ronald Reagan administration are easy familiar targets and play at least an accomplice role in this movie.

But Philomena is not a slam against the church or conservative politics. This thoughtful movie is a real story about a real mother on a difficult quest to find her adopted son. The situation that caused Philomena to lose him was tragic indeed and this film could have added fuel to the already blazing fire against the Catholic Church and its pedophile scandal. But the main character does not allow that to happen as she differentiates her faith with the abusive actions of a few of the church’s leaders.

Judi Dench is as brilliant as ever, playing the broken hearted mother on a quest to find her son after 50 years of separation. As a pregnant teen-ager in Ireland, mother with baby are sent to a home run by nuns. As a form of penance, many young unwed girls worked there while their children were being taken care of by the sisters. Unbeknownst to the adolescent mothers, their babies were being sold to adopters by the “Sisters of No Mercy.”

And so the journey begins with Philomena hiring an investigative journalist (Martin Sixsmith, played by Steve Croogan) to help her on her search.  Philomena is based on a book by Sixsmith entitled, Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search. In many ways the story of the film is the relationship that develops between these two very different people. He is a skeptical atheist, due in part to the failings of the church. Philomena’s steadfast faith despite the situation is deemed unreasonable by Martin and readily challenged by journalist and audience alike.

Philomena provides a humble example of real faith in cynical days. Despite the failures of her church, she is able to distinguish the bad apples (and their painful actions) from the essential core of her faith. Not easy to do. Just check out how many have left the established church these days for “offenses” much lesser than what Philomena endured. 

Forgiveness enters the screen in a late, pivotal moment of this film. When Martin explodes with anger and even hatred at the culprits (specifically one older nun), Philomena forgives. “Just like that?” Sixsmith angrily chides Philomena.  And in a simple yet accurate statement about forgiveness she replies, “No! Not ‘just like that.’ It’s hard for me, Martin.” The honesty of this scene is felt in how much one identifies with Martin as well as how noble yet difficult the act of forgiving truly is.

I enjoyed this movie. It was an ethical/moral journey, at times comical, well-paced, occasionally cliché but very worth seeing. As an active opponent to human trafficking, its story moved me. Give it a look. You’ll be glad you did.