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Deliver Us from Evil is one of the preeminent documentaries of the decade. It’s also one of the best films of 2006.

The Film – Horrifying are the crimes of former Catholic priest and pedophile Oliver O’Grady, culprit of the Church’s biggest sexual scandal in history. More horrifying is the attempt (and, for a while, success) of the bureaucratic establishment to conceal them. Most horrifying, yet, are the accounts of his victims, now adults, agonizingly shared with the world in this extraordinary, wrenching 2006 work, which evokes grief, devastation, rage—and tears, as we’re unable to discharge our brimming emotions any other way. Assembling a collection of videotapes and other documents strikingly, director Amy Berg sheds a light—of blinding revelations and sickening matter—on the progressive indignity of leaders of the Catholic (or any) faith, brought upon by sociopathic monsters, merciless crooks like O’Grady. Comprised of several pungent interviews, mainly involving an extended episode with the shameless, seemingly remorseless perpetrator (which Berg transacted in 2005 in O’Grady’s native Ireland) and his sufferers (the remaining are with psychologists, activists, lawyers, etc.), Deliver Us from Evil invades the terrifying calculations of a true commander of evil (or two, counting the Church), which alone distinguishes it as an entry of magnificence, scarcity, importance. But it digs deeper still, until it has unearthed the very flames of iniquity, accomplishing a crushing power—great enough, for some, to renounce the Catholic Institution for its epic betrayal. And that’s what a few of O’Grady’s sheep have done. And in the most tragic, dispiriting way, they’re justified. 5 stars

The Extras – If ever there were doubts that Berg’s objective was anything less than to expose such a dreadful man and the disgraceful conspirators behind him, these extras quell them—she believes in her material, and her craft, but she wants to ensure that her investments in this project are irrefutable, and so the DVD offers terrific additional material, equally strong as what’s presented in the theatrical cut (which is dubbed here in 5.1 Dolby and with the option of Spanish subtitles). Deleted scenes, even an alternate ending (I’ll be honest—I’ve never known a documentary disc to include an alternative conclusion), parallel a gripping featurette called Bible vs. Church (think about it; after the stirring content of the movie, this assessment is necessary), and Berg and editor and co-producer Matthew Cooke sit in for feature-length commentary. 4 stars (4 ½ and 5-star extras are typically reserved for exceptional multi-disc sets)

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