Taglines: Mothers. Daughters. The never-ending story of good vs. evil.
The film opens in 1937 Louisiana with four little girls out in the woods at night, each wearing a home-made headdress. The leader, Viviane Abbott (Caitlin Wachs), initiates them into a secret order she dubs the “Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” which they seal by cutting their palms and taking a blood oath of undying loyalty.
The film then moves to New York City in the 1990s, where Viviane’s eldest daughter, playwright Siddalee Walker (Sandra Bullock), while overseeing production of her newest release, gives an interview with a reporter from Time, mentioning her unhappy childhood as a major source of inspiration for her work. The reporter sensationalizes Sidda’s complaint, implying abuse and deep, dark family secrets.
Vivi (Ellen Burstyn) reads the article and becomes extremely upset. She calls Sidda, but instead of speaking can only bang the phone on the table while crying that she is dead to her. Sidda, equally frustrated by her mother’s behavior, also bangs her phone against the counter after Vivi has hung up on her. Much to the frustration of her fiancé, Connor McGill (Angus Macfadyen), Sidda takes her mother’s behavior as a declaration of all-out war. Vivi takes down all the pictures of Sidda in her house, cuts her face out of family pictures, and mails the defaced pictures to Sidda, along with a copy of her will with Sidda’s name marked out. Sidda in turn sends Vivi a newly printed wedding invitation with the time and place cut out, plus torn-up tickets to her play.
When the Ya-Ya Sisters learn of Vivi’s war, they decide to take matters into their own hands to resolve it. Led by Caroline Eliza “Caro” Benett (Maggie Smith), Aimee Malissa “Teensy” Whitman (Fionnula Flanagan), and Denise Rose “Necie” Kelleher (Shirley Knight) visit Sidda in New York, then drug her, kidnap her, and take her back to Louisiana. There they show her a scrapbook album her mother has kept, titled Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which they believe they must reveal to Sidda.
They explain to Sidda her mother’s experiences, depicted in flashbacks of their childhood, then as young women and mothers, including Sidda’s own childhood. Vivi’s (Ashley Judd) troubles include: encountering racism as a child at Teensy’s uncle and aunt’s house; a bitter, jealous mother (Cherry Jones) who falsely accuses her of incest with her father, and the loss of her true love, Teensy’s older brother Jack (Matthew Settle) who is killed in World War II. She settles for an unhappy marriage with Shepherd James “Shep” Walker (David Lee Smith/James Garner), a good and faithful man who loves her, despite the abuse she heaps on him because he isn’t Jack.
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is a 2002 American comedy-drama film starring an ensemble cast headed by Sandra Bullock, directed and written by Callie Khouri. It is based on Rebecca Wells’ novel of the same name and its prequel collection of short stories, Little Altars Everywhere.
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
Directed by: Callie Khouri
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, Ellen Burstyn, James Garner, Maggie Smith, Jacqueline McKenzie, Katy Selverstone, Kiersten Warren, Gina McKee, Matthew Settle
Screenplay by: Mark Andrus, Callie Khouri
Production Design by: David J. Bomba
Cinematography by: John Bailey
Film Editing by: Andrew Marcus
Costume Design by: Gary Jones
Set Decoration by: James Edward Ferrell Jr.
Art Direction by: John R. Jensen
Makeup Department: Wendy Bell, Felicity Bowring
Music by: David Mansfield, T-Bone Burnett
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for mature thematic elements, language, and brief sensuality.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: June 7, 2002
Visits: 86
