History Film / Philomena

* TheBeard: Marcia acted as one for Michael.

* HollywoodHomely: Discussed at the end when Philomena talks about the protagonist of her romance novel to Martin.

* KindHeartedSimpleton: Martin sees Philomena this way, at least at first, but she's a great deal wiser than he gives her credit for. The film doesn't go into great detail, but she has endured terrible cruelty and lifelong grief, yet says she doesn't like the word "evil," even to describe the nuns of the laundries, and is unfailingly gentle, sweet, and kind.

---> They were both [[BuxomIsBetter very big]]... in their careers.

---> '''Philomena:''' She's very plain. Pretty but plain.
--->'''Michael:''' I like plain girls.

* BasedOnATrueStory: Based on the story of Philomena Lee and Martin Sixsmith.

''Philomena'' is a 2013 film [[BasedOnATrueStory based on the true story]] of Philomena Lee (Creator/JudiDench), a young woman in 1950s Ireland who becomes pregnant and is sent to one of the infamous Magdalene Laundries. Her child is forcibly adopted at age two. She remains silent until her son's fiftieth birthday.

* GeniusBonus: The fact that in 2004, the youngest nun is a young black immigrant woman whereas in flashbacks, all the nuns, young and old, are white Irish. Few people who aren’t Irish would recognise the truth of this: since the 1990s, fewer and fewer Irish-born people are joining the church.

* ChekhovsGun: Sixsmith is shown drinking a bottle of Guinness Harp Lager with the label clearly visible. It looks like a simple case of ProductPlacement until he makes the connection between the harp logo and the pin Michael wears in the photographs of his White House service.

* PrecisionFStrike: Martin's exclamation of "Fucking Catholics!". And when Philomena stops at a small backwoods church to confess her sins she calls him a "Feckin' idjit!".

* ContrivedCoincidence: Martin met Philomena's son in Whashington years ago.

* Bookends: Martin and Philomena's investigation starts and finishes with a visit at Roscrea Abbey. Martin notices it and quotes Creator/TSEliot: "We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

** In the airport, Philomena explains the whole plot of a novel to Martin, then she proposes him to read the book. He refuses politely, saying that he feels like he already read it.

* SlobsVersusSnobs: Martin is used to eating in classy restaurants, to travelling business class, to staying in fancy hotels. Philomena is not and Martin makes fun of her reactions.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: The younger nuns appear to be very nice to Philomena but are still knowingly hiding information about her son from her]].

** The nuns' claim that all of the relevant paperwork that would help Philomena track down Anthony was burned in a fire, with the assumption that it was an accidental fire. After talking to some locals, Martin is told that [[spoiler: it was a bonfire where the nuns intentionally burned all their records to avoid exposing the fact that they were literally selling babies to rich Americans.]]

* EurekaMoment: Martin realizes that Michael was aware of -- and took pride in -- his Irish ancestry.

---> They were both [[BuxomIsBetter very big]]...in their careers.

* SmarterThanYouLook: Philomena. During the scene where she asks Marcia if [[spoiler: Anthony/Michael had children]] she makes it clear that after a few misunderstandings that she knows what Marcia meant by [[spoiler: Michael being gay]] but wanted to know if her son was [[spoiler: "bi-curious" like some of the nurses that she knew]].

* [[ChekhovsGun Chekhov's Beer Bottle]]: Sixsmith is shown drinking a bottle of Guinness Harp Lager with the label clearly visible. It looks like a simple case of ProductPlacement until he makes the connection between the harp logo and the pin Michael wears in the photographs of his White House service.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Martin. He may be BrutallyHonest, and he also starts to care for Philomena greatly.
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Sister Hildegard has serious health problems in her old age and gets called out by Martin for her actions. But the other nuns who ran the laundries and lied to Philomena and Michael, Philomena's unseen father who abandoned and disowned her, and Martin's boss who encourages him to exploit Philomena's grief are all unpunished. However, there is the consolation that when Martin's article comes out, it will result in a public relations nightmare for the Catholic Church that would only get worse when the truth about molesting priest cover ups and the Magdalene Asylums are exposed.]]

* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: There is one in the end. We hear that Philomena still lives in Southern England.

* ExactWords: the nuns' claim that all of the relevant paperwork that would help Philomena track down Anthony was burned in a fire, with the assumption that it was an accidental fire. After talking to some locals, Martin is told that [[spoiler: it was a bonfire where the nuns intentionally burned all their records to avoid exposing the fact that they were literally selling babies to rich Americans.]]

-->[[spoiler:Michael died on August 15, 1995.]]

* FreudianSlip: Martin, when talking about his confusing Jane Russell and JayneMansfield.