Parents' Guide to

Cabrini

Movie PG-13 2024 145 minutes
Cabrini Movie Poster: Mother Cabrini stands in New York City, carrying suitcases

Common Sense Media Review

Sandie Angulo Chen By Sandie Angulo Chen , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 13+

Insightful but overlong biopic has sad deaths, prejudice.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 13+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 10+

Based on 5 parent reviews

age 13+

age 9+

Excellent historical tale

Cabrini was an outstanding film that tells a story of a difficult time and the leader who overcame obstacles to make her bit of the world better. our family all loved it, from kids who were barely ten to adults. highly recommended.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (5 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

Propelled by Dell'Anna's nuanced leading performance, this biopic about the influential Catholic missionary is insightful, if too long. Cabrini is a tribute to a selfless woman of tremendous faith and also a reminder of the fact that, to quote Hamilton, immigrants get the job done. Both the character and the film are surprisingly feminist. Mother Cabrini doesn't let her accent, her gender, her size, or her disability (she's sickly and frail) keep her from following her purpose to house, love, and teach the poorest of the poor. That said, the script is a bit heavy-handed, making almost every single interaction Cabrini has with a man into a horror show of vitriol and epithets. (The only exceptions are Patch Darragh's kindhearted Dr. Murphy and, in the third act of the movie, the reluctantly respectful archbishop.)

Monteverde also doesn't really explore Cabrini's relationship with the rest of her order, spending more time on her friendship with Vittoria instead. It's a shame, because everyone in the order is as committed to the cause as Cabrini. There's an underdeveloped minor subplot about Cabrini asking Giovanni (Christopher Macchio), a Caruso-like opera singer, for help, only to be turned away until she returns to his window with a chorus of orphaned Italian children singing in perfect harmony. (Andrea Bocelli's daughter Virginia is the soloist, and the father-daughter duo sing the movie's end-credits song, "Dare to Be.") The overfull screenplay—particularly some of the repetitive scenes of White men shutting Cabrini down at every step—can sometimes make the plot feel plodding. But there's much to admire about Cabrini's life, and the movie does capture her enduring determination and dedication, against all odds.

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