An underdog story of faith and ambition told with impeccable craft and commanding performances, Cabrini does justice to the legacy of a saint who stood up for the downtrodden against those in power.

Cabrini reminds that to find the true spirit of Christ’s message at work, you must look to those clergy and laity who serve the poor and the sick. This is where Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini (Cristiana Dell’Anna) made her legacy. A Catholic sister born in Italy in 1850, Mother Cabrini long sought to establish missions in China. Pope Leo XIII (Giancarlo Giannini) instead urges Mother Cabrini to establish a mission in New York City where in the late 19th century a growing number of Italian immigrants endured persecution and poverty, resulting in a high number of homeless orphans.

The opening scene of the Alejandro Monteverde (Sound of Freedom) directed Cabrini portrays how dire the situation is, as a young boy pleads for someone, anyone, to help his mother who lies motionless in a cart. An indifferent city looks away, the result of a society declaring the “brown skin filth” as a “threat to the fabric of America”. It is an emotional, maddening scene that reminds of a history that has too often repeated itself.

Into this New York City does Mother Cabrini and her sisters try to establish their mission, and it is one immediately wrought by danger both in the streets and in the corridors of power, where the (fictional) Mayor Gould (John Lithgow) uses the power of his office to try and run Mother Cabrini out of town. More shocking, perhaps, is the attitude of Archbishop Corrigan (David Morse) whose prejudice against the Italian community was directed towards Mother Cabrini as well.

Despite the challenges and obstacles, Mother Cabrini donned her “armour” and pressed on to fight the good fight. Monteverde stages Cabrini as a David vs. Goliath battle, yet one that is won through faith, ambition, and the good mother’s embrace of the purely American attitude that “we are bold, or we die!” Monteverde also takes great strains in presented Mother Cabrini’s fight as one against the “patriarchy”, sometimes to cringe-worthy results that feel forced and, dare it be said, agenda driven.

Dell’Anna portrays this little-saint-that-could with the frail physicality, strong spirit, and keen intelligence that encapsulates the character of this Patron Saint of All Immigrants. Just as powerful is the worldbuilding in Cabrini, as Monteverde along with cinematographer Gorka Gomez Andreu (In the Company of Women) and production designer Carlos Lagunas (Belzebuth) transport viewers back to late 20th century New York with great craft and skill, while providing a stern reminder of the horrors found in history.

Within this horror show of prejudice and poverty, though, rose champions of the faith and advocates for the downtrodden, people like Saint Francis Xavier Cabrini. May more of her kind grace this world again.