‘The Lost Children of Tuam’ Review: Monica Dolan Excels in a Straightforward but Stirring Reflection on a Buried Irish Tragedy
Ireland’s ongoing artistic reckoning with the Catholic Church’s gross mistreatment of unmarried mothers and their children — as addressed in such films as...
Key points
- Ireland’s ongoing artistic reckoning with the Catholic Church’s gross mistreatment of unmarried mothers and their children — as addressed in such films as “The Magdalene Sisters,” “Philomena” and “Small Things Like These” — continues in “The Lost Children of Tuam.” A restrained but deeply affecting drama that keeps the horrors of the past largely unseen, instead tracing a contemporary woman’s growing awareness of vast tragedy buried in her hometown, Frank Berry‘s film is ripped from recent headlines: Viewers may recall the international media coverage of local historian Catherine Corless’ discovery that hundreds of children had been buried in an unmarked grave on the former site of a Catholic mother and baby home in Tuam, Galway.
- Popular on Variety It’s somewhat fitting, then, that Berry’s film is fronted not by a movie star but by Monica Dolan, a redoubtable character actor who has steadily served the ensembles of films from “Topsy-Turvy” to “Pride” to “The Dig,” but rarely gets the kind of spotlight she’s granted here.
- Following a triumphant home-turf premiere earlier this month at the Galway Film Fleadh — where it took home the top prize for Best Irish Film — “The Lost Children of Tuam” should at least match the international festival reach of Berry’s last feature, the Josh O’Connor and Letitia Wright starrer “Aisha,” while specialist distributors and streaming platforms should take note of its direct appeal to audiences’ emotions, minus any distancing arthouse trappings.
- An unassuming wife and mother with a fraught history of clinical depression, Tuam resident Catherine is no academic: Her interest in local history begins at a hobbyist’s level in 2010, with a community-college night class that requires her to research a close-to-home subject for a final essay.
What happened
Ireland’s ongoing artistic reckoning with the Catholic Church’s gross mistreatment of unmarried mothers and their children — as addressed in such films as “The Magdalene Sisters,” “Philomena” and “Small Things Like These” — continues in “The Lost Children of Tuam.” A restrained but deeply affecting drama that keeps the horrors of the past largely unseen, instead tracing a contemporary woman’s growing awareness of vast tragedy buried in her hometown, Frank Berry‘s film is ripped from recent headlines: Viewers may recall the international media coverage of local historian Catherine Corless’ discovery that hundreds of children had been buried in an unmarked grave on the former site of a Catholic mother and baby home in Tuam, Galway. Popular on Variety It’s somewhat fitting, then, that Berry’s film is fronted not by a movie star but by Monica Dolan, a redoubtable character actor who has steadily served the ensembles of films from “Topsy-Turvy” to “Pride” to “The Dig,” but rarely gets the kind of spotlight she’s granted here. Following a triumphant home-turf premiere earlier this month at the Galway Film Fleadh — where it took home the top prize for Best Irish Film — “The Lost Children...
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