Deliver Us from Evil is a 2006 American documentary film that explores the life of Irish Catholic priest Oliver O'Grady, who admitted to having molested and raped approximately 25 children in Northern California from the late 1970s through the early 1990s.[1] The film was written and directed by Amy J. Berg, won the Best Documentary Award at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, losing to An Inconvenient Truth.[2] The title refers to a line in the Lord's Prayer.

Synopsis [ edit ]

The film chronicles O'Grady's years as a priest in Northern California, where he committed his crimes. After being convicted of child molestation and serving seven years in prison, O'Grady was deported to his native Ireland. Berg interviewed him there in 2005 for the film. Additionally, the film presents trial documents, videotaped depositions, and interviews with activists, theologians, psychologists, and lawyers; it suggests that Church officials were aware of O'Grady's crimes, and they took steps to conceal them to protect him and the church.[3][4]

Reception [ edit ]

The Irish Independent criticized Berg for having filmed children in Ireland without the knowledge of them or their families.[5]

The film was very well received by critics, earning a 100 percent "Fresh" critics rating from Rotten Tomatoes based on 72 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.36/10. 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 against pedophile 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] It is currently ranked 31st among the site's highest rated documentaries of all time.[7]

Aftermath [ edit ]

After the documentary was shown on Dutch national TV in April 2010, members of a parish in Schiedam 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 the Netherlands as an organizer of children's parties.[8]

See also [ edit ]