Deliver Us from Evil (2006 film)

2006 American film

Deliver Us from Evil

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

* October 13, 2006 (2006-10-13)

Running time

| 101 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
Box office| $327,205

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] Written and directed by Amy J. Berg, it won the Best Documentary Award at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, though it lost to An Inconvenient Truth.[2] The title of the film 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 in 1993 and serving seven years in prison, he was deported to his native Ireland, where Berg interviewed him in 2005. Additionally, the film presents trial documents, videotaped depositions with O'Grady and other members of the Los Angeles Archdiocese (including Monsignor Cain and Roger 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]

## Reception

[edit]

The film was well received by critics. It earned a 100 percent "Fresh" critics rating from Rotten Tomatoes based on 72 reviews, with a weighted 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 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] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 86 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[7]

The Irish Independent criticized Berg for having filmed children in Ireland without their knowledge or that of their families.[8]

## 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.[9]

## Inspiration

[edit]

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]

## See also

[edit]

* Catholic Church sexual abuse cases
* Catholic Church sex abuse cases in the United States
* Roger Mahony's role in covering up sexual abuse in the Los Angeles Archdiocese
* Twist of Faith (2005), an HBO documentary film about abuse in the Catholic Church
* Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012), another HBO documentary
* Holy Water-Gate, a 2004 documentary
* Secrets of the Vatican, a 2014 documentary
* Sex Crimes and the Vatican, a 2006 BBC documentary
* Spotlight, a 2015 film about The Boston Globe's 2001 investigation into cases of child sex abuse in the Boston area by Catholic priests[12]
* List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a film review aggregator website

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Guccione, Jean (May 11, 2005). "A Glimpse at the Mind of a Pedophile". Los Angeles Times.
2. ^ "The New York Times: Deliver Us from Evil". The New York Times. 2008. Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved November 23, 2008.
3. ^ Thomson, Desson (November 10, 2006). "An Unassuming Face of 'Evil'". The Washington Post.
4. ^ Stein, Ruthe (October 27, 2006). "The bitter wake of a pedophile protected by the church". San Francisco Chronicle.
5. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes' Best Documentary Movies". Rotten Tomatoes.
6. ^ "Deliver Us From Evil". Rotten Tomatoes.
7. ^ "Deliver Us from Evil". Metacritic.
8. ^ Hickey, Walshe. "Uproar as school footage used in film on pedophile". Archived from the original on November 5, 2015. Retrieved October 13, 2006.
9. ^ "Convicted Irish priest active in the Netherlands". NRC Handelsblad. 27 April 2010. Archived from the original on April 30, 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
10. ^ "Meet the DocuWeek Filmmakers: Amy Berg--'Deliver Us From Evil'". International Documentary Association. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
11. ^ Indiewire (2006-10-13). "indieWIRE INTERVIEW: Amy Berg, director of "Deliver Us From Evil"". IndieWire. Retrieved 2023-05-01.
12. ^ Lombardi, Kristen (October 31 – November 6, 2003). "Phil Saviano Founder of the local Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests". Boston Phoenix. Archived from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2016.

## External links

[edit]

* Deliver Us from Evil at IMDb
* Deliver Us from Evil at Box Office Mojo
* Deliver Us from Evil at Rotten Tomatoes
* Deliver Us from Evil at Metacritic

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Amy J. Berg

* Deliver Us from Evil (2006)
* West of Memphis (2012)
* Every Secret Thing (2014)
* An Open Secret (2014)
* Prophet's Prey (2015)
* Janis: Little Girl Blue (2015)
* The Case Against Adnan Syed (2019)
* Phoenix Rising (2022)
* It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley (2025)

Awards for Deliver Us from Evil

* v
* t
* e

Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Documentary Film

1980–2000|

* Charleen or How Long Has This Been Going On? (1980)
* Diaries (1981)
* The Atomic Cafe (1982)
* Say Amen, Somebody (1983)
* The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
* Shoah (1985)
* Mother Teresa (1986)
* Marlene (1987)
* The Thin Blue Line (1988)
* Let's Get Lost (1989)
* No Award (1990)
* Paris Is Burning (1991)
* No Award (1992)
* Visions of Light (1993)
* Hoop Dreams (1994)
* Crumb (1995)
* Anne Frank Remembered (1996)
* Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997)
* The Big One (1998)
* Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary (1999)
* The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000)

2001–present|

* The Gleaners and I (2001)
* The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
* Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
* Control Room (2004)
* Murderball (2005)
* Deliver Us from Evil / Shut Up & Sing (2006)
* Crazy Love (2007)
* Man on Wire (2008)
* The Cove (2009)
* Marwencol (2010)
* Project Nim (2011)
* How to Survive a Plague (2012)
* The Act of Killing (2013)
* Citizenfour (2014)
* Amy (2015)
* O.J.: Made in America (2016)
* Dawson City: Frozen Time (2017)
* Won't You Be My Neighbor? (2018)
* Honeyland (2019)
* Collective (2020)
* Summer of Soul (2021)
* All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022)
* Geographies of Solitude (2023)
* No Other Land (2024)

* v
* t
* e

New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Non-Fiction Film

Best Documentary
1980–1997|

* Best Boy (1980)
* No Award (1981–1983)
* The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)
* Shoah (1985)
* Marlene (1986)
* No Award (1987)
* The Thin Blue Line (1988)
* Roger & Me (1989)
* No Award (1990)
* Paris Is Burning (1991)
* Brother's Keeper (1992)
* Visions of Light (1993)
* Hoop Dreams (1994)
* Crumb (1995)
* When We Were Kings (1996)
* Fast, Cheap & Out of Control (1997)

Best Non-Fiction Film
1998–present|

* The Farm: Angola, USA (1998)
* Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
* The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (2000)
* The Gleaners and I (2001)
* Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002)
* Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
* Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
* Grizzly Man / The White Diamond (2005)
* Deliver Us from Evil (2006)
* No End in Sight (2007)
* Man on Wire (2008)
* Of Time and the City (2009)
* Inside Job (2010)
* Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011)
* The Central Park Five (2012)
* Stories We Tell (2013)
* Citizenfour (2014)
* In Jackson Heights (2015)
* O.J.: Made in America (2016)
* Faces Places (2017)
* Minding the Gap (2018)
* Honeyland (2019)
* Time (2020)
* Flee (2021)
* All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022)
* Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros (2023)
* No Other Land (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Satellite Award for Best Documentary Film

* 4 Little Girls (1997)
* Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life (1998)
* Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
* Reckless Indifference (2000)
* In Cane for Life (A Vida em Cana) (2001)
* The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)
* Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony (2003)
* Super Size Me (2004)
* Mad Hot Ballroom (2005)
* Deliver Us from Evil (2006)
* Sicko (2007)
* Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer / Man on Wire (2008)
* Every Little Step (2009)
* Restrepo (2010)
* Senna (2011)
* Chasing Ice (2012)
* Blackfish (2013)
* Citizenfour (2014)
* Amy / The Look of Silence (2015)
* 13th (2016)
* Chasing Coral (2017)
* Minding the Gap (2018)
* 63 Up (2019)
* Collective (2020)
* Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021)
* Fire of Love (2022)
* Bad Press (2023)
* Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (2024)

* v
* t
* e

Catholic Church sexual abuse cases

Cases|

| By context|

* In confession

|

By country|

* Argentina
* Austria
* Australia
* Belgium
* Canada
* Chile
* El Salvador
* Germany
* Ireland
* Italy
* Poland
* Mexico
* New Zealand
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Venezuela

By religious
institute|

* English Benedictine Congregation
* Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God
* Christian Brothers
* Legion of Christ
* Salesian order
* Sisters of Mercy
* Society of Jesus

By clerical
rank|

| Cardinals|

* Hans Hermann Groër (1998)
* Stanisław Dziwisz (1998)
* Bernard Francis Law (2002)
* Angelo Sodano (2010)
* Keith O'Brien (2015)
* Edward Egan (2018)
* Theodore McCarrick (2019)
* Ricardo Ezzati (2019)

|

Bishops|

* Joseph Keith Symons (1998)
* Anthony O'Connell (2002)
* Juliusz Paetz (2002)
* Georg Müller (2009)
* Raymond Lahey (2012)
* Józef Wesołowski (2013)
* Marco Órdenes Fernández (2018)
* Francisco José Cox (2018)
* Gonzalo Duarte García de Cortázar (2018)
* Cristián Caro Cordero (2018)
* Franco Mulakkal (2018)
* Juan Barros Madrid (2018)
* Philip Wilson (2018)
* Edward Joseph Adams (2019)

Priests|

* Category:Catholic priests convicted of sexual abuse

Responses|

| Catholic
Church|

| Holy See|

* Roman Curia
* Crimen sollicitationis (1962)
* The Role of the Church in the Causation, Treatment and Prevention of the Crisis in the Priesthood (1971)
* Instruction Concerning the Criteria for the Discernment of Vocations (2005)
* Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (2014)
* Vatican sexual abuse summit (2019)
* Vos estis lux mundi [2019]

|

US Conference of
Catholic Bishops|

* Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (2002)
* John Jay Report (2004)

Other|

* Settlements and bankruptcies (since 1994)
* Virtus (1998)
* Hussey Commission (2002)

See also|

* Parish transfers of abusive Catholic priests (c. 1956–2011)

Governments|

* Hughes Inquiry
* Ferns Report
* Ryan Commission
* McCoy Report
* McCullough Report
* Murphy Report
* Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report
* Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

Activists|

* Duplessis Orphans
* Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
* Voice of the Faithful
* Barbara Blaine
* David Clohessy
* Mitchell Garabedian
* Eric MacLeish
* Richard Sipe
* Phil Saviano

Pre-modern|

* Liber Gomorrhianus
* Katharina von Zimmern

Popular
culture|

* Judgment (1990 film)
* The Boys of St. Vincent (1992 miniseries)
* Sinéad O'Connor on Saturday Night Live (1992)
* Primal Fear (1996 film)
* Sex in a Cold Climate (1998 documentary)
* States of Fear (1999 documentary)
* "Red Hot Catholic Love" (2002 South Park episode)
* Suing the Pope (2002 documentary)
* The Magdalene Sisters (2002 film)
* Cardinal Secrets (2002 documentary)
* Song for a Raggy Boy (2004 film)
* Holy Water-Gate (2004 documentary)
* Twist of Faith (2004 documentary)
* Bad Education (2004 film)
* Our Fathers (2005 film)
* Sex Crimes and the Vatican (2006 documentary)
* Deliver Us from Evil (2006 film)
* Hand of God (2006 documentary)
* Doubt (2008 film)
* Brendan Smyth: Betrayal of Trust (2011 documentary)
* In the Name of the Son (2012 film)
* Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God (2012 documentary)
* Secrets of the Vatican (2014 documentary)
* Perfect Obedience (2014 film)
* Spotlight (2015 film)
* The Club (2015 film)
* The Keepers (2017 documentary miniseries)
* Romans (2017 film)
* Clergy (2018 film)
* By the Grace of God (2019 film)
* Prey (2019 film)
* Tell No One (2019 documentary)
* Procession (2021 documentary)

Related|

* Debate on the causes of clerical child abuse
* Media coverage of Catholic sexual abuse cases
* Clericalism
* Homosexual clergy in the Catholic Church
* Anti-Catholicism
* Criticism of the Catholic Church
* In literature and media

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