Calvary

Description

The words coming from the other side of the confessional are chilling: After first relating the rape he suffered in childhood at the hands of a priest, the anonymous voice promises Father James Lavelle (Brendan Gleeson) that in a week’s time he is going to murder his confessor. Not because the pastor had a hand in his or anyone else’s molestation, but because assassinating a good priest will make more of a statement. With that arresting opening, begins Gleeson’s second collaboration with writer/director John Michael McDonagh after The Guard (2011). This pitch-black comedy drama frames trenchant observations of the Catholic Church’s history in Ireland and its record worldwide in dealing with abusive priests within a daft mystery/passion play with Father Lavelle reluctantly thrust into the role of the martyr marked to die for the sins of others. Indeed, the priest, a widower who joined the clergy late in life, is almost Christ-like in his devotion to his parishioners and he is not about to let a death threat or the fact that his flock is made up largely of irreverent cynics keep him from his rounds. The talented ensemble includes Kelly Reilly as Father Lavelle’s troubled daughter, Aidan Gillen as an atheist doctor, Dylan Moran as the village tycoon, M. Emmet Walsh as an American writer facing his own mortality and Chris O’Dowd as a sad-sack butcher. But ultimately what makes the film that McDonagh has described as “a Robert Bresson art movie, but with jokes” resonate is Gleeson’s performance as the erudite, practical priest who is determined to follow Christ’s counsel to turn the other cheek even if it kills him. –Pam Grady

Film Details