| Deliver Us from Evil | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Amy J. Berg |
| Written by | Amy J. Berg |
| Produced by | Amy J. Berg Matthew Cooke Frank Donner Hermass Lassalle |
| Starring | Ann, Maria & Bob Jyono Nancy Sloan Adam, Becky & Phil M. Thomas Doyle Patrick Wall John Manly Jeff Anderson Dr. Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea Case & Jane Degroot Oliver O'Grady |
| Cinematography | Jacob Kusk Jens Schlosser |
| Edited by | Matthew Cooke |
| Music by | Joseph Arthur Mick Harvey |
Production company | Disarming Films |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
Release date |
|
Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $327,205 |
Deliver Us from Evil is a 2006 Americandocumentary film that explores the life ofIrishCatholic priestOliver O'Grady, who admitted to havingmolested andraped approximately 25 children inNorthern California from the late 1970s through the early 1990s.[1] Written and directed byAmy J. Berg, it won the Best Documentary Award at the 2006Los Angeles Film Festival and was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Documentary Feature, though it lost toAn Inconvenient Truth.[2] The title of the film refers to a line in theLord's Prayer.
The film chronicles O'Grady's years as a priest in Northern California, where he committed his crimes. After being convicted of child molestation in 1993 and serving seven years in prison, he wasdeported to his nativeIreland, where Berg interviewed him in 2005. Additionally, the film presents trial documents, videotapeddepositions with O'Grady and other members of theLos Angeles Archdiocese (including Monsignor Cain andRoger Mahony), and interviews with survivors of O'Grady's abuse, activists,theologians,psychologists, and lawyers. Taken together, the material suggests that Church officials were aware of O'Grady's crimes many years before his conviction, but took steps to conceal them to protect him and the Church.[3][4]
The film was well received by critics. It earned a 100 percent "Fresh" critics rating fromRotten Tomatoes based on 72 reviews, with aweighted average of 8.36/10, and is currently ranked 31st among the site's highest rated documentaries of all time.[5] The site's consensus reads: "Deliver Us from Evil is a superb documentary and a searing look at an institution protecting its leaders at the expense of its followers. A profoundly disturbing chronicle of a wolf in sheep's clothing, the film builds a clear-eyed case againstpedophile priest Oliver O'Grady, and the Catholic bureaucracy that protected him. The recollections of O'Grady's victims are nothing short of shocking and heartbreaking."[6] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 86 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[7]
TheIrish Independent criticized Berg for having filmed children inIreland without their knowledge or that of their families.[8]
After the documentary was shown onDutch national TV in April 2010, members of a parish inSchiedam recognized O'Grady as having been an active volunteer in the parish until January 2010. They had known nothing about his background. He had also been active in theNetherlands as an organizer of children's parties.[9]
Amy J. Berg in an interview with the International Documentary Association cites the cinema verité as well as the works of Stanley Kubrick, Krzysztof Kieslowski, Tomas Vinterberg, Alejandro Innaritu, Gus Van Sant, Lars Von Trier as inspirations.[10] In another interview Berg cited documentarian Michael Moore and the Dogma 95 film movement.[11]
