Catherine Corless (Monica Dolan) is researching the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, County Galway, for a local historical society. She uncovers a devastating possibility that as many as 796 children had been buried in unmarked graves on the property.
This true story of the criminal neglect at Irish children homes, owned by the Catholic Church and run by nuns, follows the likes of The Magdalene Sisters, Philomena and Small Things Like These. Whilst the latter of that trio is probably the most accomplished film overall, The Lost Children of Tuam maybe delivers the biggest gut punch as the sheer scale of the atrocity is revealed. It helps to have a talented writer as Rebecca Lenkiewicz involved, who should have won an Oscar for She Said, as she provides an excellent pared down screenplay for this 84 minute film.
The cast is uniformly great but it is Dolan who dominates. Catherine was an otherwise unremarkable middle-aged woman who finds a hidden strength whilst battling with her reluctance to be in the spotlight. Dolan conveys that superbly, particularly in scenes where she appears on TV or has to speak to a crowd.
Just when it seems that the full horror has been revealed, the text over the end credits reveals the full extent of the barbarism that still shocks despite the everyday evidence of the pure evil behind organised religions.
Rating: 9 out of 10