Review of Deliver Us from Evil (1973) by Andrew C — 30 Jul 2007

Ok, first I have to vent about the fact that flixster has this on a 3 1/2 star collective rating when complete shite is on the same level. God the demographics of the website piss me off sometimes.

So anyway, Deliver Us From Evil is hands down, the most powerful, harrowing and moving documentary I have seen. It is an empassioned call for accountability on the part of the Catholic Church for letting child abusers like Father Oliver O'Grady continue to administer over parishes even after having documented incidents with children.

Whenever parents complained about him all the Catholic Church would do would be to move him 50mils away where he was free to inflict tragedy on a whole bunch of other victims.

The director does not want to sensationalise the piece, choosing to stay behind the camera and let the interviews with some of his victims do the talking. We also follow Father Tom Doyle who has taken up the cause of the victims and is trying to get the Church to acknowledge what has happened.

What's most astounding is that Oliver O'Grady agreed to be interviewed for the documentary and is quite candid about his experiences with the children, something which can be very hard to hear at times - especially when one learns that his youngest victims were less than a year old. He seems utterly unaware of the damage he has caused to people and thinks that by writing a letter and seeking an audience with them everything can be absolved (he later withdraws the offer). There is brief mention to the fact that he was abused as a kid and abused his sister but that doesn't justify what he has done to so many families.

There was one part of the documentary in particular that shot it into stratospheric territory - when Mr. Jyono, who has been calm and collected throughout his recollections finally gets to the point where he realised that their own daughter was one of the victims.. and the sheer raw emotion that comes out of him, a howling anguish over what has happened is too much to bear and I don't think there was a dry eye in the audience. When, near the end of the film he declares that he no longer believes in god his daughter starts breaking down too. It really is too much to handle at times but it's something that needs to be said because otherwise travesties like this will continue to go unpunished.

The fact that O'Grady is living out the rest of his life free to roam about at will in Ireland is deeply disturbing, not to mention the fact that he will be getting paid an annuity from the Church when he turns 65.

This truly is unmissiable cinema. Not only is it the best documentary I have seen a long time, it's also - in the form of Oliver O'Grady introduced the most horrifying incarnation of pure evil I have seen on screen.