63
Baltimore Sun by Chris Kaltenbach
Would have been better served if Carrera had spent a little more energy developing his story and less on emphasizing his message.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
80
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
May be morally tangled, pessimistic, lurid and foreboding, but it's also humanistic.
38
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
Father Amaro comes off as another pedophile in a frock. You'd have to hose this guy down if he were driving a school bus.
75
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.
50
However much the film may mirror the truth, dramatically it feels like a cheat. It omits the human spark that would make it work as a film, rather than a collection of dramatized issues.
75
Charlotte Observer by Lawrence Toppman
Carrera directs with a light touch, letting the screenplay speak for itself.
75
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.
63
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
Carrera's style is hard-hitting, lucid and technically superior (if unimaginative). El Crimen del Padre Amaro eventually moves and stirs you, even if it often resembles those steamy Mexican TV dramas/soap operas called telenovelas.
70
Carrera's handsome film offers a richly detailed portrait of a church not so much corrupt as morally lazy after centuries in command of an overwhelmingly Catholic country.
83
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.