Magdalene Sisters harrowing but worthy film

Cast: Geraldine McEwan, Anne-Marie Duff, Eileen Walsh, Dorothy Duffy, Nora-Jane Noone

Cert: 15PG

The award-winning story of cruelty finally comes to the screen.

In the l960s the Magdalene asylums, run by the Sisters of Mercy, took in young Irish girls - mainly those who found themselves pregnant (it being an era of unenlightenment in Ireland) - and treated them with a savage cruelty.

This powerful, disturbing and often deeply moving drama tells the story of these awful establishments, the story of how brutality and cruelty and lack of Christian charity against those most in need of love and understanding became the norm.

The film, which has picked up several major awards on its rounds of the world's leading festivals, has earned the wrath of the Catholic Church (up to Vatican level) but if even a quarter of what we see on screen is true then there is no case for Mullan to answer.

The treatment of the women, many of whom were held in the asylums for decades, without hope of "escape", was, as depicted here, truly horrible, truly without a shred of humanity, and Mullan brings us their harrowing story with honesty and insight.

It is not a story to be proud of, but it needed telling.

Star Rating: 5/5.