Calvary Movie Review

Calvary (2014)

Rent Calvary on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: John Michael McDonagh
Directed by: John Michael McDonagh
Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen, Domhnall Gleeson
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
After he is threatened during a confession, a good-natured priest must fight the ensuing paranoia.

Verdict
I wasn't sure what I thought of this when it ended. The ending packs a punch. Gleeson's acting is phenomenal. He's an atypical priest with a parish full of colorful characters. Through the movie a threat pushes him closer to the edge. How far will it push him, and where will it go? Have we met the person that made the threat?
Watch It.

Review
It's a look at religion. In this scenario we have a flawed priest that cares for his church. He ministers to them even when they blatantly disrespect him and the church. Faults don't disqualify you from grace.

In the very first scene during confession, a priest is threatened by a member of the congregation. This person tells the priest that it makes no difference to kill a bad priest, he must kill a good priest for retribution. It seems that Father James (Brendan Gleeson) knows the person, or at least should, but he's unwilling to break the sanctity of confession.

Brendan Gleeson plays Father James

Throughout the week Father James visits members of his congregation. The interactions are terse, uneasy. Through these visits we get a sense of the priest. He's accepting and caring but to the point and oft irritated. The congregation confess sins openly, some with no remorse. He doesn't condemn them, though he's not compassionate either.

While Father James seems undeterred initially upon being threatened, multiple events that seem related and done for intimidation make him paranoid. All of this is from someone that wants to take him down precisely because he's a good priest. We don't know who made the threat, and James won't reveal whom.

This threat seems to cloud his interactions with the congregation. There's a member that's rich and seemingly likes to rub it in Father James's face. They both antagonize each other. It's clear Father James is strained and approaching the edge. He was never a typical priest, that's clear

This concludes with a standoff between Father James and the person that made the threat. This ending packs a punch. There are parallels to Christ. Calvary is the hill upon which Christ was killed. He was an innocent man killed for the transgressions of others. Father James is threatened with death for the crimes of others.