Magdalene Sisters, The

The Magdalene Sisters - UK/Ireland (2002), written and directed by Peter Mullan. Set in 1964, the film tells the story of three teenage girls being sent by their families and guardians to a Magdalene asylum, a prison-like reformatory, run for profit by nuns of the Catholic Church, in which women of 'questionable' reputation are obligated to work in the laundry for no wages and are repeatedly abused at hands of their captors. Based on true events in Ireland in the 1960s. The film has received a barrage of criticism from the Catholic community, because of its depiction of the nuns as heartless and vindictive bullies. Stars Geraldine McEwan as Sister Bridget.