Priestly pedophilia isn't a topic most people like to dwell on, said Gene Seymour in Newsday. But Amy Berg's 'œchilling' new documentary commands our attention. Thoroughly researched, unsentimental, and unsparing, 'œit's more incisive than any other film on its subject.' The film illuminates a seemingly familiar subject by interviewing not just abuse victims but also their abuser. Rev. Oliver O'Grady is a disturbing and fascinating figure, said Owen Gleiberman in Entertainment Weekly. Chipper and charming, with a lilting Irish brogue, he at first seems genuinely remorseful. Slowly, though, 'œit becomes clear he's a born manipulator' who's trying to deceive the audience the way he once did his victims. This man, remember, once molested a 9-month-old baby. Rather than punish him, the Catholic Church simply transferred him to another Northern California parish. Berg mostly lets O'Grady's evil deeds speak for themselves, said Ella Taylor in The Village Voice. A former TV producer, she occasionally lays on the moralizing a little thick, filming him in foreboding shadows or next to a children's playground. But she's at her best tracing the 'œsorry saga of stonewalling, buck passing, and brazen lying' that let him get away with it for so long.
Rating: Not Rated
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