The Miracle Club

It takes more than an esteemed ensemble cast to cure what ails The Miracle Club, which never fully embraces its laughs or its pain.

Instead, this bittersweet Irish drama is a mildly poignant but mostly predictable examination of spirituality and sisterhood that employs quirky humor to convey hope amid the heartbreak, although it struggles to modulate tones while seeking a deeper impact.

The story is set in 1967 a working-class Dublin neighborhood, where three generations of churchgoing women — Lily (Maggie Smith), Eileen (Kathy Bates), and Dolly (Agnes O’Casey) — are about to fulfill a dream by taking a pilgrimage to the sacred Catholic sanctuary in the French village of Lourdes.

They hope that bathing in waters rumored to be blessed by the Virgin Mary will be therapeutic. Lily is still mourning the death of her son at sea, Eileen has noticed a lump on her breast, and Dolly has a mute young son. Still, their husbands are skeptical.

Plus, their departure coincides with the arrival into town of Chrissie (Laura Linney), whose late mother was close with Lily and Eileen but who brings plenty of psychological baggage home with her. After some awkward apologies, Chrissie knows she must tag along.

All four women are challenged to put aside their bitterness and resentment to reconcile with their past, as Lily realizes during her own crisis of faith. “I haven’t believed, not properly, since Declan,” she confesses.

However, as secrets are revealed, physical and emotional wounds are exposed that might require more than prayer and divine intervention to heal.

Veteran filmmaker Thaddeus O’Sullivan (The Heart of Me) enables his performers to command the spotlight, and they find strength and vulnerability in characters dealing with guilt and remorse, leading to some intimately affecting character-driven moments.

On a broader scale, the film is rich in stylish period detail, including the ways in which belief systems are weaved into the social and emotional fabric of a community burdened by grief and despair.

However, the screenplay has some sins to confess. When it comes time to tie up its various subplots in the final act, The Miracle Club prefers to jerk tears, veering into cheap sentiment rather than genuine catharsis.

Rated PG-13, 91 minutes.