Watch Priest

Priest is a controversial 1994 drama film from director Antonia Bird that examines the life of Father Greg Pilkington, a Catholic priest struggling with issues that cause him to have a crisis in his faith. After being assigned to St. Mary’s in Liverpool, he begins to discover that Father Matthew Thomas of the parish is secretly engaging in a sexual relationship with a housekeeper in the rectory. Because Father Thomas’s rampant left-wing beliefs are already something that has made him a bit of a pariah within the parish, so a scandal like violating his celibacy is certain to destroy him and his reputation. Father Thomas’s rule breaking begins to affect Father Greg’s belief in the Catholic church, which is further pushed because it is not the only problem Father Greg is facing: he has homosexual urges and doesn’t know how to contain them. These urges come to light once he meets a man named Graham at a local gay bar and the two begin a secret relationship. His problem with his sexual urges really begins to take a toll on his personal beliefs when he is faced with a young girl named Lisa in confessional. Lisa confides in Father Greg that her father, who also confesses to Father Greg that he has done these acts, has repeatedly sexually abused her. Because Father Greg is required to uphold the Sacrament of Penance, he is unable to do anything to help Lisa and make sure her father receives legal punishment for these despicable acts. However, to comfort the girl, he finally reveals to her that he is a homosexual. The lid is ripped off of Father Greg’s secret after he is arrested for having sex with Graham in a parked car. After pleading guilty to these charges, it becomes front page news and finally causes his problems to become public knowledge