Director: Antonia Bird
Year Released: 1994
Rating: 3.0
An austere, self-righteous priest (Linus Roache) shows up at a new parish and clashes (temporarily) with a fellow pastor (Tom Wilkinson) who has a more 'liberal' view of the world - as it turns out, the older of the two (Wilkinson) has a secret girlfriend (the maid) and the younger of the two (Roache) is a homosexual and having a secret affair with a man he met in a gay bar (Robert Carlyle). Though blasted when first released, close to twenty years later (!) it seems well ahead of its time, with its key subplot involving the sexually abused daughter of a local man and the way Roache's character tries to intervene and help the girl despite being bound by the rules of his profession and the secretive nature of the Confessional. Though preachy in its politics and too often veering uncomfortably close to melodrama, it's an interesting examination of what happens when private lives become public ... and the feelings of shame and anger that come with that exposition.
