Priest

SYNOPSIS

Antonia Bird's timely and compassionate portrait of a gay priest, struggling to live up to his vows, comes to television laden with widespread critical acclaim and deserved festival awards. Wryly written by Cracker creator Jimmy McGovern, this is a biting indictment of a religion that preaches love and forgiveness yet shuns another human for not conforming. A sensitive, if harrowing, tale of lives needlessly destroyed by hypocrisy, it pulls no punches dealing with the subjects of incest and homosexuality, and contains an unforgettably moving finale. Linus Roache gives an amazing performance as the torn cleric in one of too few recent triumphs for the British film industry.