- Starring
- Cristiana Dell'Anna, David Morse, John Lithgow
- Director
- Alejandro Monteverde
- Rating
- PG-13
- Genre
- Biography, Faith
- Release date
- March 8, 2024
Overall Score
Rating Overview
Rating Summary
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, also known as Mother Cabrini, was an Italian-American Roman Catholic nun and missionary who lived from 1850 to 1917. She is renowned for her dedication to social service and her role as the founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Cabrini became the first American citizen canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church in 1946, recognizing her tireless efforts in providing education and healthcare services to immigrants, particularly in the United States. St. Cabrini is widely venerated for her compassion and selfless commitment to improving the lives of those in need.
Cabrini
“Christian” films are often rightly panned as sappy, low-budget fare with poor production value and worse performers. However, if 2023 taught us anything (aside from the fact that Disney is a barren moonscape of creativity), it’s that films that promote strong Christian values don’t have to be schlocky tales that beat Christianity over audience heads. February’s “Jesus Revolution” set the table while the $200 million dollar blockbuster “Sound of Freedom” served Hollywood some five-star crow.
Angel Studios continues this much-needed trend in entertainment with Cabrini. Every aspect of the film, from the performances of the extras to the massive ghetto street sets, is indistinguishable from the best of its secular counterparts.
Cristiana Dell’Anna, who plays Mother Cabrini, is superb, flawlessly imbuing the 19th-century nun with the fervent and unwavering strength of purpose and dedication needed to surmount the ever-growing number of obstacles in her way. Yet, Dell’Anna doesn’t neglect the subtle vulnerability and motherly nurturing needed to breathe full life into Cabrini. It’s a performance deserving of accolades and awards.
Another standout is Romana Maggiora Vergano, who plays Vittoria, a young woman orphaned on the streets of New York and taken in by Cabrini and the sisters of her order. Vergano imbues Vittoria with both the fragility of someone who has been hurt repeatedly and often and the strength of someone who has chosen to survive despite her pain, resulting in a damaged young woman who finds peace and purpose.
While most everyone gives a performance worthy of praise, surprisingly, John Lithgow’s brief turn as the Mayor of New York, Jacob Gould*, is somewhat lackluster in comparison. Lithgow’s natural flamboyance, in combination with his beautifully crafted and period-accurate costumes, culminate in something more resembling a mustache-twirling villain from a silent film than the deeply bigoted aristocrat that he and the filmmakers were going for. Fortunately, his screen time is incredibly brief and does little to detract from the overall quality.
Helping to raise everyone’s performances, Cabrini’s script, penned by the same duo who brought us Sound of Freedom, is replete with crisp and economical dialogue that knows when to be grounded and when to soar. However, there are a handful of very brief instances in which the dialogue seems to reflect more modern sensibilities than perhaps makes sense.
For instance, there is a scene in which Mother Cabrini is trying to get a special dispensation from the Pope to become the first woman to be given a mission in the Church’s almost two-thousand-year history. Despite this and the fact that she is an early 19th-century nun in Italy (a country that didn’t give women the right to vote until the end of WWII), when she is turned down, she defiantly turns to the Pope and brazenly asks, “is it because I’m a woman?”
Well, of course it is. Within the context of history, region, and vocation, it’s a silly question and one that seems unlikely to have been asked. That said, these are rare instances in the extreme and likely only noticeable by nitpickers.
As excellent as Cabrini is, it never quite builds to the emotional crescendo that one might expect from a story about such grand and far-reaching accomplishments made in the face of millennia-built bigotries and traditions. This is in part due to the film’s grand scope. It is a deeply personal story that attempts to squeeze in one too many of Mother Cabrini’s accomplishments, which in turn dilutes the needed focus.
Ironically, what hinders the depth of audience connection most is the voice that the writers have given Cabrini and the other people of faith in the film. In its efforts to avoid being a “Christian” film, they couch far too much of what would normally be religious dialogue in secular vagaries. In fact, God is never directly mentioned. The result is that Cabrini’s accomplishments come across as her own and glorify her instead of God. In a film about a pioneering woman whose faith ran so deeply that no fewer than four miracles are attributed to her, God’s absence is a startling omission.
That’s not to say that God’s presence is never felt. His precepts and philosophies of behavior, as well as the aesthetic trappings of Catholicism, are omnipresent throughout the film.
Ultimately, Cabrini is an uplifting and beautifully rendered story of an amazing woman whose fervent life of selfless devotion to God is a must-see for the faithful and faithless alike.
WOKE ELEMENTS
I sincerely struggled with this section due to some of the dialogue. Ultimately, I’m giving Angel Studios et al the benefit of the doubt.
- It takes place at a time and location that was not among our history’s brightest moments. How the Italian immigrants were treated was despicable, but there were moments when it seemed like the script was making a commentary on today. I’m not sure if I’m being overly sensitive or if it was there.
- The same goes for some of the dialogue about being a woman at the time.
- At one point, Cabrini asks, with total defiance, “Is it because I’m a woman?”
- Obviously, it’s because she was a woman. She was raised in late 1800s Italy and has followed a calling to be a part of an organization in which women play supporting roles (important supporting roles but supporting roles).
- Women couldn’t even vote; there had never been a women-led mission since the Catholic Church’s founding in 30 A.D.
- It would be a completely alien concept, and surprise at the male leadership’s position seems inappropriate.
- Women couldn’t even vote; there had never been a women-led mission since the Catholic Church’s founding in 30 A.D.
- Obviously, it’s because she was a woman. She was raised in late 1800s Italy and has followed a calling to be a part of an organization in which women play supporting roles (important supporting roles but supporting roles).
- At one point, Cabrini asks, with total defiance, “Is it because I’m a woman?”
- The same goes for some of the dialogue about being a woman at the time.
*The real Mayor Gould was a Democrat. Just wanted to point that out. You guys are always on the wrong side of history.
James Carrick
James Carrick is a passionate film enthusiast with a degree in theater and philosophy. James approaches dramatic criticism from a philosophic foundation grounded in aesthetics and ethics, offering insight and analysis that reveals layers of cinematic narrative with a touch of irreverence and a dash of snark.
17 comments
Henry
March 7, 2024 at 10:44 am
Excellent review. Even though Lithgow’s performance wasn’t the best, I was pleasantly surprised to see him show up here and I think his presence adds credibility to the film.
Charles
March 7, 2024 at 10:44 am
Looking forward to this one. Enjoying angel studios releases last few years
Jeff
March 7, 2024 at 10:44 am
This movie is not based at all, you can clearly see some of today’s woke agenda through the writing which wouldn’t have been accurate to this era.
Women good and strong, men weak and evil.
James Carrick
March 7, 2024 at 10:44 am
I’m curious. Are you basing this on my review, or have you seen the film?
Alex
March 15, 2024 at 12:52 am
Agree. Movie seemed very woke to me.
Joe Quinonez
March 7, 2024 at 10:44 am
The movie was inspiring. A true saint in every way. Cabrini’s role was done with detail to true events, and many of the supporting cast carried out some difficult roles. This movie will open eyes and hearts of those that have no idea of how America was created — immigrants.
James Carrick
March 7, 2024 at 10:44 am
Thanks for the comment. Out of curiosity, where were you able to see the film? It doesn’t release for another couple of weeks.
TheGhostofBelleStarr
March 7, 2024 at 10:44 am
All this talk of “immigrants”. The immigrants during the movie time were LEGAL immigrants who were vetted. Todays “immigrants ” are ILLEGAL, breaking the law coming through our borders by the millions, getting ” free” Healthcare ( in California) while legal citizens pay for their own plus the illegals via TAXES.
James Carrick
March 7, 2024 at 10:44 am
Absolutely. We’re talking apples and avocados.
Mark M
March 8, 2024 at 3:42 pm
I refuse to see this movie. I’m tired of the way directors and script writers use period movies as a way of slipping in social commentary with a liberal slant. Here’s a novel idea: fact based historic portrayals that are both entertaining and informative!
Peggy Connolly
March 9, 2024 at 12:42 pm
Saw the movie premiere yesterday, 3/8/34, in Linden NJ.
Woke/unwoke did not enter my mind once the movie started. I was immersed in this portrayal of Italian life in 1800’s NYC. My knowledge of the Era had often been from an Irish perspective. Now, I was seeing another picture clearly.
I was born one year before Mother Cabrini died in 1946. I recall being taken by my mother the upper Manhattan health clinic run by the sisters.
If anything, Mother Cabrini seems more a foremother of Sainted Mother Theresa of Calcutta
We’ll see this movie again….
James
March 11, 2024 at 6:13 pm
Based on the trailer the themes present in this film are racism, misogyny, anti immigration, poverty, child neglect, and a woman’s crusade against all of that. It’s got community organizing to boot. Seems pretty “woke” in the asinine appropriation use of the term -to me. I suppose it does have its baser qualities such as the hero/savior story arc. Looking forward to seeing it this week.
Tee Tothejay
March 12, 2024 at 10:13 am
Overall, I thought this was a good film. I agree with the reviewer, and would add a few things. I was surprised by the level of wokeness in the underlying theme of the movie, especially coming from Angel studios. Everywhere we turn today, whether it be television, movies, sports or politics, absolutely everything is about race and racial division. White people bad, everyone else good. Cabrini seemed to jump on the same train, with the “white versus brown” theme being prevalent throughout the entire story. Is this historically accurate? Most likely. Do we need yet another film stoking the flames of racial and ethnic division to try and convince us how awful our country is/was? For heaven’s sake, no. Most of us are downright exhausted by this subject at this point. To me this detracted from what was otherwise a well-acted and inspiring film. I also agree that the film seemed to give much of the credit/glory for what Cabrini accomplished to Cabrini herself. Her Christian faith almost seemed an afterthought. Overall a good film, but some disappointing woke underpinnings which were not expected from Angel studios.
Frank
March 13, 2024 at 2:33 pm
Out of curiosity, if this movie was not a so call “Christian” movie, would your woke meter have been different?
Just remember, the devil is not at the bar on Saturday night, he is in church Sunday morning. He already has those at the bar, he wants those at church.
Angel Studios have already been called out for some of their wokeness happening behind the scenes, so should they be given the benefit of the doubt when other Studios would not?
James Carrick
March 13, 2024 at 2:54 pm
As I said in the review, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Even if I weren’t, I wouldn’t have marked the score much differently, it really does consist of two or three lines that felt incongruent.
But they’re on my radar now.
Herb
March 17, 2024 at 12:43 pm
This movie was super woke. The feminist girl boss trope. The immigrants are just poor innocent victims trope. The evil white man is oppressing the brown skinned people. The song in the middle of the movie about immigrants “I have no homeland” sure you do, you can always go back to Italy. I’m sure Cabrini was a nice lady that helped a lot of orphans, but to pretend that thus movie wasn’t intended to heap on white guilt to make us feel bad for today’s “immigrants” is just nonsense. It’s ok to have hiring quotas for a building project as long ad they are Italians. It’s ok to preserve your culture as long as you aren’t a White Anglo Saxon Protestant. This movie was a giant woke sledgehammer masquerading as a Christian movie. Two big thumbs down.
T
April 1, 2024 at 2:30 pm
This was a very well done movie and told an incredible story based on a true story. It’s great that it portrayed the story of a woman that did a lot of great things; however, it was agonizing how the movie had to keep blatantly reminding the audience that she was a woman, which oozed with the woke ultra-feminist “women are better than men” feel. I get that women weren’t treated very well back then, but that message was over the top and unnecessarily pushed too heavily. I wanted the message to be about her great accomplishments, not what her gender was. It was otherwise a really great movie.