Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt

Excellent acting, intelligent screenwriting, and dynamic filmmaking give this Mexican production a forceful emotional and intellectual charge.

Boston Globe by Wesley Morris

Bernal, with his sweet man-boy looks, makes Padre Amaro's portrait of corruption all the more flabbergasting in its irony.

Philadelphia Inquirer by Carrie Rickey

A feverish melodrama about an idealist who, in following his heart and his bishop's orders, leads himself into temptation and his parish into hypocrisy.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer by Sean Axmaker

Carrera's direct, unadorned style has none of the searing imagery or cinematic imagination of "Y Tu Mama," but it bristles with passion, anger and a palpable sense of betrayal.

Washington Post by Desson Thomson

May be morally tangled, pessimistic, lurid and foreboding, but it's also humanistic.

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

Not an indictment of the Catholic Church as a whole, but a thought-provoking look at what can happen when decent individuals are seduced by the power of their position.

New York Post by Megan Lehmann

Commendably, Carrera steers clear of preachiness in his exploration of a timely and relevant issue, and Bernal's transformation from naive priest to tortured adulterer to hard-nosed careerist is riveting.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

It's more of a melodrama, a film that doesn't say priests are bad but observes that priests are human and some humans are bad.

San Francisco Chronicle by Edward Guthmann

Conveys the character of this tiny, insular community through richness of detail.

Charlotte Observer by Lawrence Toppman

Carrera directs with a light touch, letting the screenplay speak for itself.