Calvary

In the confessional Father James hears not a confession but a threat: the man on the other side was abused by a priest as a child and intends to kill an innocent priest in revenge. He gives him a week. Father James knows who the man is and tells nobody. Over the days left he moves through his parish, and everyone he meets is either mocking, wounded or lost. John Michael McDonagh directed. Brendan Gleeson plays Father James, with Chris O'Dowd, Kelly Reilly and Aidan Gillen in the cast. McDonagh had the idea in 2009 while making The Guard. His aim was not to tell the abuse scandals but to show a good priest. It was shot in County Sligo from September 2012. It took 16.9 million dollars worldwide. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 90 percent, with reviews built around Gleeson's performance. It won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at Berlin and several Irish Film and Television Awards. McDonagh described the tone as darkly comedic; the film is nonetheless dramatically serious and puts the distance between faith and the priesthood as an institution at its centre. Who it is for: viewers who like heavy moral questions carried on humour, and Brendan Gleeson. Who it is not for: anyone wanting consolation. The film does not step back in its final scene and keeps the promise it made.