The film is based on the book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith, which tells the true story of Philomena Lee's 50-year-long search for her son. The book focuses more, as the title suggests, on the life Michael/Anthony had after his adoption.
Plot
Journalist Martin Sixsmith has just lost his job as a Labour government adviser, and isn't sure whether to take up running or write a book about Russian history. Meanwhile, Philomena Lee confides to her daughter that, fifty years earlier, she had given birth to a son in Ireland, but because she was not married she had been forced to give him up for adoption. Soon after, Martin meets the daughter at a party. Although he initially scorns human interest stories, he needs work and an editor wants the story. He meets Philomena, and they start to investigate what had become of her son.
Philomena had given birth to her son Anthony at the convent in Roscrea, was forced to sign away parental rights to her son – but still cared for him until he was adopted at age three – and worked as an indentured laundry lady. Her best friend at the convent had a daughter, Mary; the children were best friends as well. A couple had come to the convent to adopt Mary, and had taken away both children because they were inseparable.
Martin and Philomena begin their search for her son at the convent. The nuns are polite and welcoming, but they have no information. The adoption records had been lost in a fire years earlier, they said. Drowning his frustration at a pub, Martin meets a young man who tells him rumours he had heard from the old-timers: the convent deliberately destroyed the records in a bonfire, and that they had sold the children to adoptive parents, mostly in the United States (including Jane Russell).
As a journalist and political adviser, one of Martin's specialities is the US, where he has worked and has numerous contacts. Although enquiries reach a dead end in Ireland, Martin's contacts in the US might be able to help. Searching passport and other records, Martin finds that Philomena's son had been adopted by Doc and Marge Hess, who renamed him Michael Hess. He grew up to be a lawyer and high-ranking official in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. He was also gay, and closeted living with his partner, Peter Olson. He had died nine years earlier, of AIDS.
Martin reluctantly informs Philomena of his findings – but they press on, to find people who had known him. From old photographs, Martin realises he had actually met Anthony/Michael briefly when Martin was working for the BBC. They visit Michael's co-adoptee Mary, who tells them that their adoptive mother had been loving, but their father and brothers had not shown love for Michael. Mary gives them the name of Michael's most serious boyfriend, but doesn't tell them what Philomena most wanted to know: whether he had ever tried to find his birth mother.
After avoiding Martin's attempts to contact him, Michael's former partner finally agrees to talk to Philomena. He says that Michael had always wondered about his birth mother, and had visited the convent in Ireland to find out more about her – but the nuns lied and told him that they had lost contact with her. He says that Michael's dying wish was to be buried in the convent's graveyard, and that he (Peter Olson) had managed to arrange this, in hopes that his mother might eventually find the message on his gravestone.
The story ends where it begins: at the convent. Martin angrily confronts a nun who had been around when Philomena's son had been taken from her. The nun is unrepentant, saying that losing her son was Philomena's penance for the sin of fornication. Philomena, on the other hand, forgives the nun, though she later tells Michael it was difficult to do so. (Earlier in the film, Philomena has been shown to have residual feelings of guilt over the liaison which led to Anthony's birth; her reaction to Sister Hildegarde implies that she is now completely clear that it is not she, but the nuns, who did wrong and need forgiveness.) Philomena then locates her son Anthony/Michael's grave and reads the stone. Martin says he will not publish the story as it is private to Philomena, but Philomena tells him to go ahead because "people should know what happened here".
Cast
Judi Dench as Philomena Lee
Steve Coogan as Martin Sixsmith
Barbara Jefford as Sister Hildegarde
Sophie Kennedy Clark as Young Philomena
Kate Fleetwood as Young Sister Hildegarde
Mare Winningham as Mary
Michelle Fairley as Sally Mitchell
Ruth McCabe as Mother Barbara
Anna Maxwell Martin as Jane
Peter Hermann as Pete Olson
Simone Lahbib as Kate Sixsmith
Amy McAllister as Sister Anunciata
Cathy Belton as Sister Claire
Wunmi Mosaku as Young Nun (modern era)
Sean Mahon as Michael Hess
Directed by Stephen Frears
Produced by
Gabrielle Tana
Steve Coogan
Tracey Seaward
Written by
Steve Coogan
Jeff Pope
Starring
Judi Dench
Steve Coogan
Music by Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography Robbie Ryan
Editing by Valerio Bonelli
Studio
Pathé
BBC Films
British Film Institute
Canal+
Cine+
Baby Cow Productions
Magnolia Mae Films
Distributed by The Weinstein Company
Release dates
31 August 2013 (Venice Film Festival)
1 November 2013 (United Kingdom)
27 November 2013 (United States)
8 January 2014 (France)
Running time 95 minutes
Country
United Kingdom
United States
France
Language English
Box office $68,379,350
Philomena International TRAILER (2013) - Mare Winningham, Steve Coogan Drama HD
A woman searches for her adult son, who taken away from her decades ago when she was forced to live in a convent.
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