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Deliver Us from Evil
Lions Gate Films

8.5 based on 23 reviews Read critic reviews How did we calculate this? based on 20 votes Read user comments Rate this movie

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MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Thomas Doyle, Oliver O'Grady, and Cardinal Roger Mahoney

This controversial documentary is the story of Father Oliver O'Grady, the most notorious pedophile in the history of the modern Catholic Church.

GENRE(S):	Documentary
WRITTEN BY:	Amy Berg
DIRECTED BY:	Amy Berg
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: May 8, 2007  Theatrical: October 13, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	101 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Brilliant and psychologically transfixing documentary.

100

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Most powerfully, Berg also films a number of O'Grady's victims as they recount their trauma and, in some cases, loss of faith.

100

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Courageous, shattering and exceptional documentary.

100

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

A heartbreaking look at broken trust.

100

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

As a study of a predator, "Evil" is fascinating and enraging.

90

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

The outrages of pedophile priests have generated screaming headlines but relatively little understanding of the Catholic culture that permitted and concealed such crimes, which makes this informed documentary by Amy Berg all the more valuable.

90

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Neither sensationalistic nor sentimental, Ms. Berg’s film is clear-sighted, tough-minded and devastating, a portrait of individual criminality and institutional indifference, a study in the betrayal of trust and the irresponsibility of authority.

90

Slate Dana Stevens

Not one of your pass-the-popcorn date movies. It's a howl of rage.

88

USA Today Claudia Puig

Deliver Us From Evil is so horrifying it makes "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" look like a walk in the park.

88

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole

Another angry, searching document about pedophile priests, Deliver Us from Evil makes for unexpectedly gripping drama.

88

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Deliver Us From Evil has a few things wrong with it, including an egregious musical score, but without resorting to sucker punches, it takes your breath away while making your skin crawl.

88

ReelViews James Berardinelli

With Deliver Us from Evil, Berg has been uncompromising in the picture she paints. She pulls no punches and makes no apologies.

88

TV Guide Ken Fox

The most infuriating revelation in Amy Berg's powerful documentary is the lengths to which current Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahoney and other church officials went to protect Father O'Grady and themselves, even though it meant knowingly delivering countless other children into a child molester's hands.

88

New York Post Lou Lumenick

This superb documentary about the Catholic Church's worst pedophile scandal is in many ways far scarier than any fiction.

88

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Amy Berg's riveting documentary, tracks O'Grady's predatory trail from San Andreas, Calif., to Ireland, where he is now living on a church pension that was apparently meant to buy his silence.

88

Boston Globe Ty Burr

It isn't often you get to meet the devil in all his glory, but here he is in Deliver Us From Evil, and his name is Father Oliver O'Grady.

80

The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden

With an immediacy and intimacy that news reports can't provide, this deeply affecting documentary explores the pedophile crisis that has shaken the edifice of the Catholic Church.

80

Variety Robert Koehler

So harsh and damning is the pic toward the current Catholic leadership -- personified by Los Angeles-based Cardinal Roger Mahony, who oversaw O'Grady's stewardship at various central California parishes in the 1970s and '80s, that charges the church operates "like the Mafia" sound spot-on.

80

Village Voice Ella Taylor

Berg by no means excuses Father O'Grady, but she offers evidence of a devastating childhood that explains his pathology. For the ambitious creeps who allowed him to indulge it, and who still sit in office, there's no excuse.

75

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

When victims and their families talk about having their lives wrecked by a sexually abusive priest in the forceful documentary Deliver Us From Evil, that destruction is as much spiritual as psychological.

75

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

The spellbinding power of this almost certain Oscar nominee for best documentary comes from its chilling subject matter.

70

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Deliver Us From Evil has its flaws. Certain passages are diffuse, others are argumentative, and there's a discomfiting staginess to the climax... Yet the film's concern for the victims, and their families, is one of its strengths.

70

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Works best when it concentrates on O'Grady and the ever-rippling effect of his transgressions. Viewers may not remember the victims whose stories practically pierce the heart, but they're unlikely to forget O'Grady's deceptively innocent face.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 20 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Bill gave it a9:
This is often an extremely difficult film to watch, especially if (like me) you're a parent. After years of reading about clergy sexual abuse in the church I expected mainly to be appalled by the bottomless narcissism of the central figure, Oliver O'Grady. And I was. However, the institutional evil that saturates the hierarchy all the way to the top of the Vatican seems an order of magnitude more chilling. Deposition footage of the Bishop of the Diocese of L.A. and a Monsignor there makes one believe he is looking at Satan incarnate. I did not sleep well after watching this. A very important documentary for everyone to see. It's perhaps the best horror film made in years.

Sara K. gave it a9:
Just watch this movie, its unbelievable! I have never felt SO bad for anybody as I did for the victims and their families.

PnArdy PnArdy gave it a1:
Skipped it to the end. Film about child abuse in catholic church.

Chad S. gave it an8:
For the most part, "Deliver Us from Evil" is an exemplary documentary about the abuses of the Catholic church. Late in the film, however, the filmmaker and Thomas Doyle resort to Michael Moore-tactics when they send two of Father O'Grady's abuse victims to the Vatican for an apology. They must've known it was a certain inevitability that the two women would be sent away catharsis-free, and would now be saddled with a new psychical wound in need of healing. Doyle and the filmmaker probably didn't prepare the women for the possibility of rejection because they wanted to capture real tears on film. This is disappointing. When Doyle is calming the two women down inside a cafe, he looks like an actor. Other than this egregious violation of trust between documentary filmmaker and subject, "Deliver Us from Evil" is essential viewing for all. Father Oliver O'Grady, quite clearly, doesn't look at all repentant. He's like the criminal who gets away with the perfect crime and wants to share his story with an audience. He's on an ego-trip.

Daniel H. gave it a9:
The best documentary of 2006, hands down stunning. It is getting everyone talking and it should be.

Kristen S. gave it a10:
Thank God. This movie will reach believers to hopefully cry for their church to be better, hold itself to higher standards and serve the people -- not its own interests. I'm so thankful to those with the courage to speak up. Their victimization by those perpetuating this evil (within the church) needs to be stopped. It starts by talking about it and the priests and church to be accountable to those they took an oath to God to serve.

Anderson C. gave it a10:
Well, I do not know about that but it is true that the thoughts and events portrayed in this movie are at least disturbing and possibly horrifying. It is filled with rage and anger as well as powerful stories of pain and anguish. But this does not take away from the brilliant storyline and fascinating but disturbing look into the mind of a free-roaming rapist and madman. The movie was neither sensationalistic nor sentimental, Ms. Berg’s film is clear-sighted, tough-minded and devastating, a portrait of individual criminality and institutional indifference, a study in the betrayal of trust and the irresponsibility of authority. Most powerfully, Berg also films a number of O'Grady's victims as they recount their trauma and, in some cases, loss of faith. All in all this personal tale and account of horror is captivating and irreplaceable in documentary history. It stands alone in a category of true gems.

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