TMS Movie Review: Cabrini
(Angel Studios)
When I caught the trailer for Alejandro Monteverde’s new biopic Cabrini, I thought, “Hey, this looks pretty interesting about a subject who isn’t talked about often.” Then the logo for Angel Studios popped up by the end and, I was like, “Oh. That makes sense too.” What’s fascinating about Cabrini’s promo is that the studio isn’t selling it specifically to Christians and/or conservatives, like how Rosalind Ross’ Father Stu (2022) or Jon Erwin & Brent McCorkle’s Jesus Revolution (2023) were recently. But instead as a traditional historical drama that just happens to be on a Catholic nun.
The title refers to a real 19th-20th century Italian nun, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini (Cristiana Dell’Anna), who fought her way through Italy and New York to protect innocent orphans from poverty and danger. In this film, we see Mother Cabrini told to keep her service local, and to leave the international work to the priests in the Catholic Church. Seeing she won’t take no for an answer, Pope Leo XIII (Giancarlo Gianni) compromises and has Cabrini along with a group of fellow Sisters travel to NYC in 1889, where there are Italian immigrants facing hardships and prejudice from the American born locals. Ramona Maggiora Vergano co-stars as a prostitute who helps the nuns find shelter in NYC and is inspired to leave behind her stint at the local brothel to assist in the ladies’ mission. David Morse plays NYC’s archbishop and John Lithgow is the city’s unsympathetic mayor.
(Angel Studios)
Monteverde is also the director of Sound of Freedom (2023), which was surrounded by multiple controversies during its rise at the box office last year. From what I gathered at my own screening; Cabrini is very possibly going to be the breakout Christian hit for this Easter season. The film is the tale of a nun’s impact in her church and community, but it’s also about women’s rights and Italian immigration. Angel chose to focus on the feminine aspect of the feature [i.e. releasing the film on International Women’s Day] for the marketing; while Monteverde and co-screenwriter Rod Barr’s feminist angle impressively feels more genuine than tacked on. Thus viewers both conservative and progressive are responding positively to Cabrini. It also helps that the film is led by a strong cast, particularly Dell’Anna and Vergano, and Gorka Gomez Andreu provides some attractive cinematography with plenty of shadows and silhouettes. The screenwriters even opt for using a mix of Italian and English dialogue for the whole movie, rather than just go with the outdated choice of all English with foreign accents, which is a plus.
While a good watch, Cabrini doesn’t conclude without faults though. Such as an overly melodramatic score by Gene Back, the film seeming to forget during the second act that Mother Cabrini is struggling with early signs of TB, the goofy QR code during the end credits asking for you to pay an extra ticket for a friend who couldn’t make it to the theater. But as a cinematic experience, it’s a good starting point on the life of an important figure in US history.